Pro-China film gets cash from NZ Govt

‘‘Anyone who offends China, no matter how remote, must be exterminated,’’ isn’t a line you’d expect to find in a New Zealand film – let alone a film that received $243,000 tax rebate from the Government.

Yet it’s the tagline for Wolf Warrior 2, a militaristic Chinese propaganda film, partly made in New Zealand.

The film qualified for the Government’s screen production grant, allowing it to receive a cool $243,000 taxpayer-funded rebate on the $1.2 million the film’s producers spent on Kiwi shores.

That money was spent at Park Road Post, one of Peter Jackson’s film companies, which would not comment on this story.

The film was not made directly by the Chinese Government, but by Chinese state-owned enterprises, including the China Film Group Corporation and Bona Films – a subsidiary of China Poly Group, another state-owned enterprise.

China Poly Group is an unusual conglomerate housing the world’s third largest art auction house, a real estate business, and has ‘‘longstanding ties to the military and the family of the former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping,’’ according to The New York Times.

The strong allegations against the Chinese film industry’s activities in New Zealand are made in

forthcoming research from China expert Professor Anne-Marie Brady.

In it, she says growing cooperation between the Chinese and New Zealand film industries, combined with New Zealand’s screen production grant, means ‘‘taxpayers are now subsidising China’s propaganda films’’.

Her concerns aren’t just confined to Chinese films — she said the growing ties could have a chilling effect on New Zealand’s own cinematic output.

The big prize from growing cooperation between the two countries is to have more New Zealand films exhibited in China. The catch is these films would then have to adhere to Chinese censorship rules, meaning they cannot be in any way critical of the Chinese state.

‘‘It will have a chilling effect on our cultural scene,’’ she said, noting it would mean New Zealand

Hong Kongers, for example, would find it difficult to make films here that touched on issues relating to the unrest in the city.

New Zealand-made Mulan, directed by Niki Caro, has copped criticism for its overly militaristic pro-China tone ahead of its release. People have threatened to boycott the film, after star Liu Yifei posted a meme from the Communist Party’s People’s Daily saying ‘‘I support the Hong Kong police’’ on social media a day after the UN Humans rights office said Hong Kong police were ‘‘employing less-lethal weapons in ways that are prohibited by international norms and standards’’.

Wolf Warrior 2 was roundly criticised in Western media for its overly militaristic tone.

The reception in China’s statecontrolled media was more positive, with People’s Daily, saying the film showed ‘‘fearless heroism and responsibility’’.