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The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) is distancing itself from the controversy over Mulanlinks with communist organizations in China.
The NZFC said Stuff the taxpayer funded grant that Mulan received only extended to expenses in New Zealand.
The grant pays for 20 percent of New Zealand’s production budget up to $ 25 million.
About 70 percent of the Disney movie, directed by Kiwi Niki Caro, was shot at Auckland’s Kumeu Film Studios, according to the NZFC, with the remainder shot on locations in the South Island and China.
Disney
Mulan received funding from New Zealand taxpayers, but the New Zealand Film Commission says it doesn’t apply to scenes shot in China.
It emerged that the Chinese part was filmed in the Xinjiang region in collaboration with the Turpan Municipal Public Security Bureau.
The organization is responsible for organizing “re-education camps” for regions persecuted by the Uighur or Uighur minority, where up to one million people have reportedly been detained as part of an effort to assimilate the population into a single Chinese identity. .
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MulanThe credits thank that organization as well as the publicity department of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee, which is tasked with refuting claims by human rights groups that the Chinese government’s actions amount to cultural genocide.
The NZFC said those collaborations amounted to “Disney operational options” and as such it could not comment.
Disney
New Zealand largely replaces China for Mulan.
“The New Zealand government subsidy for the production of displays for international productions can be claimed only for expenses in New Zealand,” said NZFC chief marketing officer Jasmin McSweeney. Stuff.
“Spending or activity outside of New Zealand does not meet the criteria and is therefore not normally included in grant applications.”
There was outrage over the revelations on social media, with the Uyghur Solidarity NZ group using the hashtag #BoycottMulan.
“In the end credits of Mulan, Disney has the gall to thank the Turpan Public Safety Bureau (PSB),” the group tweeted. “The Turpan PSB is directly responsible for massive and arbitrary arrests and other horrific abuses.”
United Nations Watch CEO and international human rights lawyer Hillel Neuer was among high-profile people who condemned Disney on Twitter.
“Dear Disney,” he wrote. “At the United Nations I am trying to sound the alarm about China’s destruction of its Uighur Muslims. Now your movie Mulan pays tribute to the same entities involved in herding 1 million Uyghurs in camps … Do you think the camps are Disneyland? “
“How many thousands of Uighurs were placed in camps by the Turpan Public Security Bureau during filming? Mulan There? “Asked activist Shawn Zhang.
“Suppose Mulan The crew arrived at the Turpan airport and took the G312 road to the Shanshan desert, where they filmed, ”he added,“ they could see at least 7 re-education camps ”.
The film’s star Liu Yifei has previously been criticized for expressing support for the Hong Kong police, who have clashed violently with pro-democracy protesters.
Disney
Liu Yifei drew criticism last month for expressing his support for the Hong Kong police.
Mulan It was released over the weekend on the Disney + streaming platform for an additional fee to subscribers, its planned theatrical release scrapped as theaters around the world remain closed for the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Kiwi Cinemas, however, argued that it should have had a theatrical release here, as it “would have been a lifeline” for the struggling industry.
Disney has been contacted for comment.
