LGBT filmmaker Fan Popo declared victory in a legal battle with China’s top film regulator, but appears no closer to having his film back on the country’s most popular video streaming services.
At issue is Fan’s 2012 documentary titled Mama Rainbow, which follows mothers of gay children throughout China. Fan’s 30-minute-long documentary was previously available on many Chinese video streaming platforms, namely Youku, Tudou, and 56.com, receiving a huge amount of hits, comments, and reviews from people from all walks of life, both positive and negative, until it was removed in late 2014.
The streaming services told Fan that the State Administration of Press, Publications, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT) had ordered them to remove the film, but SAPPRFT denied that. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court, ruling on Fan’s suit, agreed with SAPPRFT that no such order had been given.
““I hope that my case can serve as catalyst to inspire more people to stand up against SAPPRFT for content we care about,” Fan said to The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. Fan interprets the ruling as a victory because without specific SAPPRFT prohibition, it is now down to the individual streaming services to decide whether or not they should show the film.
“I hope the documentary will be available again soon, and also all the reviews. It got almost 1 million hits, and a lot of comments that are also very valuable. Some of them are supportive, some of them are in the other direction, but no matter what they are opinions from people who watched my documentary. As a filmmaker, this is important to me, as well as for other people facing similar challenges,” Fan said in an October interview with the Beijinger.
Read the full interview with Fan Popo here. People with YouTube access can watch Mama Rainbow here.
Margaux Schreurs contributed to this report.
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Photo: Sui/the Beijinger