China blocks US filmmakers on quake documentary
BEIJING - When the American filmmakers Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill traveled around Sichuan Province last year to document the anger of parents whose children had died in school collapses during the earthquake in May, they ran into a chilly reception from officials.
Police officers harassed the two men and their co-workers, detained them, and interrogated them for eight hours, they said.
Now, the Chinese government has denied both of them visas, blocking them from presenting their documentary, “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province,’’ at the Beijing Independent Film Festival this week. The two men, who made the film for HBO with co-producer Peter Kwong, said their visa applications were rejected late last week. No explanation was given by the Chinese consulate in New York, where the application was filed, they said.
“We are extremely disappointed that the Chinese government denied our request for visas and that we will not be permitted to discuss this film with a Chinese audience in Beijing,’’ Alpert and O’Neill said in a joint e-mail.
A person helping to organize the film festival in Beijing said the documentary would be shown tomorrow even though the filmmakers will not attend.
Alpert and O’Neill said there might be a possibility of talking to the audience by phone.
