China censors Chloe Zhao’s historic Oscar win
BEIJING: Beijing-born Chloe Zhao on Monday became the first woman of colour to win the Oscar for best director, but the country of her birth censored the news of her victory as leading Chinese staterun media avoided reports on her historic win.
As of late on Monday, official news agency Xinhua, national broadcaster CCTV and the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) mouthpiece, People’s Daily, did not report on the big success of Zhao’s film -- Nomadland -- at the Academy Awards. Previous posts on Chinese social media websites had been blocked as well.
Zhao on Sunday night became the second woman ever to win the coveted award at the Oscars, as her film Nomadland -- about marginalised Americans roaming the West -- bagged best picture and its lead, Frances Mcdormand, won best actress.
According to a Reuters report, a live-stream of the Academy Awards in Shanghai hosted by alumni of Zhao’s alma mater ran into China’s censors, with the organiser saying access to his virtual private network (VPN) service was blocked for nearly two hours.
“One of the exceedingly rare pieces of coverage, on private news site 163.com, actually used the occasion of her victory as an opportunity to not-so-subtly assert one of China’s most important — and contentious — geopolitical priorities,” the Hollywood Report said in an article.
Beijing’s anger on Zhao stems from an interview she gave to the Filmmaker magazine in 2013 where she said China is “…a place where there are lies everywhere”.
Until the speech resurfaced recently, Zhao and her work had been praised even by Xinhua.
“The evocative feature film, Nomadland, the latest effort by