A Japanese animated movie that was scheduled to be screened at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival has been withdrawn due to "technical reasons," the event's organizers said yesterday, just two days after China's Ministry of Culture banned its broadcast online.
"Attack on Titan: Guren No Yumiya" was scheduled to be shown on three dates over the coming week as part of series of Japanese works.
"Due to technical reasons, the movie will not now be shown during the festival," an official surnamed Cang from the event's organizers told Shanghai Daily.
"The three time slots will be filled by other movies, but anyone who bought tickets in advance will be entitled to a full refund," she said.
The Japan-China Friendship Film Festival Executive Committee said it was notified of the ruling on Tuesday night.
"The eight movies we submitted for the festival had all been reviewed and approved by Chinese authorities," a committee member was quoted as saying by Japan's Yomiuri newspaper yesterday.
"We thought they would all be screened at the international festival despite the censorship on other media," the person said.
China's culture ministry on Monday said it had closed eight Internet portals that provided access to illegal animations, and banned the webcasting of 38 Japanese animated films — including the "Attack on Titan" series — due to their "violent or pornographic" content.
Liu Qiang, vice director of the ministry's Culture Market Department, said the censorship was intended to "protect the mental health of juveniles."
