A Hong Kong director has said his latest film has been denied a public screening in the city by authorities on the grounds that it could harm national security.
Kiwi Chow. File photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.Kiwi Chow, who had directed pictures touching on political issues such as the 2019 protests and unrest, said on Tuesday that the government had informed him by letter that his new film, Deadline, would not be allowed a screening in the city.
The letter issued by the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA), dated December 12, said a reviewer believed that the screening of Deadline, a fictional film produced in Taiwan about a suicide threat at an elite school, “would be contrary to the interest of national security.”
The letter, seen by HKFP, did not explain further why Chow’s film could be detrimental to national security.
It warned that screening a film without an official approval is an offence that could lead to three years in jail and a HK$1 million fine.
“The national security law needs no explanation. It’s absurd, exaggerated, rude, and unjust,” Chow wrote in a Chinese-language Facebook post on Tuesday, referring to the security legislation Beijing imposed in 2020 following the pro-democracy protests and unrest the year before.
In response to HKFP on Tuesday, OFNAA said: “The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) has all along been processing film censorship applications in accordance with the law. OFNAA would not comment on individual applications.”
Authorities have said free expression is protected under the security law and the mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
‘Twisted fate’In his Facebook post, Chow said he had consulted with lawyers on the prospect of challenging OFNAA’s decision in court, but was told that “it won’t mean much” and could result in million-dollar legal costs.
He said his film was commercial in nature but it “had become a political matter inadvertently,” adding it was “painful” to accept that his movie could not be screened in Hong Kong.
“This film has a twisted fate. So has my filmmaking career – as well as Hong Kong,” he said.
A poster for Deadline. Photo: Benchmark Films.Chow vowed to continue making films despite the blow and said that he “would not give up on Hong Kong.”
Chow’s previous films, including the award-winning Beyond the Dream in 2020 and romantic comedy Say I Do To Me in 2023, have been publicly screened in Hong Kong, while his 2021 documentary about the 2019 protests, Revolution of Our Times, was screened outside the city.
The director previously said he submitted Deadline to OFNAA on August 4 for assessment.
Last month, Chow made an open appeal to OFNAA to “release” his film, accusing the office of “unreasonable delays.”
In Hong Kong, a film must be approved by OFNAA before it can be screened publicly. Reviews by the film office are customarily completed within 14 days.
The Film Censorship Ordinance was amended in late October 2021 to include national security clauses, a year after the Beijing-imposed national security law came into effect.
As of July 2025, OFNAA had barred 13 films from public screening on national security grounds since the film censorship law was amended in 2021, while it required edits in 50 films.
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