Screenings of the Taiwanese movie Family Matters (我家的事) at a Hong Kong film festival have been canceled after it failed to meet “revision requirements” set by Hong Kong authorities, with some media citing sources as saying the decision was due to the film’s use of a term that Beijing rejects.
Originally scheduled for Aug. 16 and Aug. 18, the two screenings of Family Matters at the Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival 2025 (Summer IFF 2025) have been cancelled, according to a Facebook post issued by the organizer, Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS), on Tuesday.
The cancellation was “due to the film not meeting the revision requirements set by the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA),” HKIFFS said.
Photo courtesy of Activator Co via CNA
OFNAA is a government agency in the Chinese special administrative region responsible for enforcing the film classification system under the Film Censorship Ordinance (FCO), with duties such as “classifying films for public exhibition and publication.”
Activator Co, the film’s distributor, said in a statement yesterday that “Family Matters was unable to pass the FCO due to wording used in the footage.”
“To preserve the integrity of the work, the filmmakers could not comply with the requested changes, leading to the film’s withdrawal from the screening in Summer IFF,” the Taiwanese company added.
Taiwan’s Chinese-language newspapers Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) and United Daily News yesterday both cited sources as saying the cancellation was due to the appearance of the term “Min Kuo” (民國), a reference to the “Republic of China,” Taiwan’s official name, which is not recognized by China -- officially the People’s Republic of China -- as a sovereign state.
HK01, a Hong Kong-based online news outlet, reported the same day that, according to sources, at least seven Taiwanese films have been pulled from screenings in Hong Kong since 2021, when amendments to the FCO began requiring censors to consider whether a film’s screening would be “contrary to the interests of national security.”
Following the introduction of the Hong Kong national security law in June 2020, the city -- a former British colony -- has seen Beijing tighten its grip in recent years, with increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and cultural activities, including film screenings.
Before Activator’s statement, some Taiwanese media speculated that the cancellation of Family Matters was linked to lead actor Lan Wei-hua’s (藍葦華) role in Zero Day Attack (零日攻擊), a Taiwan government-funded TV series that recently aired and depicts a scenario involving a Chinese invasion of the island country.
Set to hit the big screen across Taiwan on Sept. 12, Family Matters is a drama movie directed by Pan Ke-yin (潘客印) and filmed in his hometown of Changhua County.
The 99-minute film recently won the Uncaged Award for Best Feature Film at the 24th New York Asian Film Festival, becoming the first Taiwanese film to receive the honor in that category.
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