Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/cnforbiddennews Like us on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/chinaforbiddennews Indie documentary film "These Changsha People", produced by Hunan intellectual Liu Yimu, had entered post-production but before completion the relevant materials were confiscated and deleted by the Domestic Security Division. Initially, Liu wished to use the film to build a communication bridge between officials and civilians, but he found the gap between reality and his aspirations to be too distant. Liu Yimu believes that every city is changing and he wanted to record the changes. People from all walks of life in Changsha were interviewed for the film. Liu says he wants to facilitate people's understanding of the diverse array thinking from people in the city. He wants his film to reflect the many different thoughts and ideas so that the people and the government are informed and a door to collaboration between the two groups can be opened. Liu Yimu: "This is so that people can come to know the wide range of ideas in this city. This diversity need to be valued. In addition, it allows us to understand each other in this city and know what other people are thinking." Cheng Qiubo, production staff of "These Changsha People": "In the area of documentary films, the state media uses one model and one voice. We want to view from an objective angle, to watch and record the true society." Filming for "These Changsha People" began on Jan. 3. 23 people from different professions with different political ideas were documented. University professors, students, entrepreneurs, lawyers, fashion models, and petitioners were featured. The film also included senior pro-democracy activists and retired soldiers. Cheng Qiubo said that a lot of thought was put into recording thoughts and moments in the lives of Changsha people. The producers feared suppression by the regime, thus they decided not to include anything that would be deemed too sensitive in the film; they took a neutral stance. However, Cheng pointed out that the film involved several people who were being monitored by officers of the Domestic Security Division, including one senior pro-democracy activist, 79-year-old Zhang Jingsheng whose daily spending is less than 10 yuan ($1.65), as well as a retired teacher Tong Shidong, age 80, who was a pro-democracy activist in the Tiananmen Student Protest of 1989. Tong, who had been jailed for nine years, currently lives a very hard life alone. Liu Yimu did not expect that from Jan. 7, the film crew would become the target of the Domestic Security Divison. Liu Yimu: "They suddenly told me on Jan. 11 that their leaders are very concerned about this issue and gave the order to cease production on the film. I asked them who their leaders are, they didn't tell me." At the time, Liu thought that officers of Domestic Security Division collecting information to find out what people are thinking may not be a bad thing. However, Liu didn't expect that any content of his film would be deleted except one professor's interview. Liu says that the Domestic Security Division breached their agreement. He and other partners of the film will request the regime to publicly disclose their findings on this incident. They plan to ask the regime to return the materials that are not seen as sensitive. Liu Yimu: "They have no reason to intervene. They created terror and threats -- if we carry on, they will throw us into prison." Liu points out that in China, everyone has faced political threats and when the spy agent tells you they would "make you disappear", you really would be disappear. Liang Taiping, production member of "These Changsha People": "They confiscated our materials without legal procedure, we will maintain our rights and protest." Liang Taiping believes that the regime fears people having different thoughts and different voices. Liu Yimu says that he will make efforts to finish the film. Since 2012, several shocking cases took place in Hunan. including activist Li Wangyang's death, petition-mother Tang Hu's detention and real estate businessman Zeng Chengjie's secret execution. All of these incidents have caused a huge amount of controversy. Recently, Hunan regime strengthened its suppression of dissidents including stopping Luo Liang and Chen Junxian from leaving the country at the airport. Pro-democracy activist Ouyang Jinghua was denied an application for entry into Hong Kong and Macau. Citizen Ou Hufeng was prevented from leaving the country in Luohu, Shenzhen. Cheng Qiubo who is currently in Los Angeles says that since mid 2013, the effort that Hunan regime has put into stability maintainance, is more than any other city. Hunan also intensified the suppression of freedom of publication and persecution of dissidents. Meanwhile the regime's behaviors have increasingly aroused public anger. 《神韵》2014世界巡演新亮点 http://www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org/

• published: 16 Jan 2014
• views: 284