Oscars not showing in Hong Kong for first time since 1969

HONG KONG • For the first time in more than half a century, Hong Kong movie lovers will not be able to watch the Oscars.

The city's largest television network will not broadcast next month's ceremony, for what it says are "purely commercial" reasons.

The move comes after China asked the media to play down the awards, following the nomination of a documentary on Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests and concern over the political views of Best Director contender Chloe Zhao.

Television Broadcasts, known as TVB, has broadcast the Academy Awards on its English channel every year since 1969, when the musical Oliver! won Best Picture.

Other local broadcasters, including Now TV, ViuTV and Cable TV, also do not have broadcast rights, The Standard newspaper reported on Monday.

Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda department told all local media outlets to scrap live broadcasts of the Oscars and focus coverage on awards that are not seen as controversial, people familiar with the situation said.

The awards, which will take place in Los Angeles on April 25, have stirred controversy in China amid rising nationalism.

Do Not Split, which chronicles the 2019 demonstrations against China's tightening grip over the former British territory, was nominated for Best Short Documentary.

Zhao, 38, was initially lauded by the Chinese press for being the first Asian woman to win the Golden Globe for Best Director earlier this month for Nomadland, and for vying to become the second woman to win an Academy Award in the same category.

But she drew fiery criticism among social media users for a 2013 interview in which she is said to have described China as "a place where there are lies everywhere".

China is increasingly cracking down on freedom in Hong Kong after months of pro-democracy protests, starting in mid-2019, angered Beijing, which saw the movement as a threat to its rule over the city.

In recent weeks, cinemas have pulled a protest documentary and a university has cancelled a press photography exhibition, while a soon-to-open contemporary art museum has said it will allow security officials to vet its collection.

BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE