The European Film Academy (EFA), International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and International Film Festival Rotterdam have all called for the immediate release from prison of Chinese filmmaker Deng Chuanbin.
Deng, also known as Huang Huang, is a documentarian living in Sichuan Province. He was arrested by Chinese authorities on May 17, 2019. That morning he had tweeted a political meme referencing the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
“We strongly condemn the arrest of fellow filmmaker Huang Huang, for allegedly tweeting a photo which the authorities found controversial,” said EFA chairman Mike Downey. “His detention is a flagrant betrayal of his human rights and his basic freedom of expression. We call on the relevant authorities to release him immediately.”
“The wide-ranging and extreme steps taken by the Chinese government to silence artistic voices attempting to commemorate the Tiananmen Square Protest and in this case, referencing a meme to a historical date, goes way beyond the limits of any respect for human rights whatsoever,” added Downey.
Huang has previously faced intimidation from Chinese authorities, including in 2015 when he was prevented from travelling to Geneva to attend a human rights seminar.
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