Chinese officials have asked that a Filipino documentary be removed from future screenings at the New Zealand Doc Edge Festival, saying doing so would be in the interest of Chinese-New Zealand relations.
The documentary, Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea, had its world premiere on June 30 at The Capitol Cinema in Auckland — after being withdrawn from screenings in its home country.
The film was scheduled to premiere at the Puregold CinePalo Film Festival in Manila was pulled from the line-up days before it aired over what the film creators described as “external factors” earlier this year.
It was then selected by New Zealand’s Doc Edge Festival — the first to be able to do so. But, this week, festival organisers were asked to do as the Filipino counterparts had and cut the doco from its schedule.
In correspondence seen by 1News, the Chinese Consulate requested the festival refrain from all future screenings — if it wanted to act in the “interest of public and China-New Zealand relations”. The correspondence pointed out that New Zealand Prime Minister’s Christopher Luxon’s recent visit to China had been “fruitful”.
Festival organisers said the written request followed several calls to ticketing staff and board members, requesting that the screenings be pulled.
“The documentary… is rife with disinformation and false propaganda, serving as a political tool for Philippines to pursue illegitimate claims in the South China Sea. Its screening would severely mislead the public and send the wrong message internationally,” the email from the Chinese Consulate read.
“This documentary disregarded history and facts, and is designed to amplify the Philippines’ wrong position on the issue concerning the South China Sea and deliberately distort and hype up the maritime situation.”
Doc Edge general manager Rachael Penman said they’ve refused the request and willingly stand by all their filmmakers.
“We are a voice for independent filmmakers,” she said. “We programmed a film that we felt was really important to be seen and brings up a conversation with so many people. I hope that everyone does go and see this now, and has their own opportunity to make their own decisions about this film.”
1 News has reached out to both the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese Consulate via email and phone with questions around its specific concerns with the film and why it was appropriate to exert political pressure in such a way.
While it didn’t address those specific questions the Chinese Embassy said as a “matter of principle we hope that publicly promoted content would reflect realities rather than spreading mis or dis-information”.
It also called for disputes to be peacefully resolved… and expressed its desire for “countries outside the region to play a constructive role in this regard instead of doing the opposite”.
The Philippine Embassy declined to comment other than to say “it is aware” of the situation.
Directed by Filipino filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama, the tells the stories of local fishermen, the national Coast Guard, and the Navy as they work in the South China Sea – with a particular focus on the area around the Scarborough Shoal.
Contained within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, China’s had de-facto control of it since 2012 and has refused to accept an international ruling that said its claim over almost the entirety of the South China Sea has no legal basis.
University of Otago senior lecturer in politics Nicholas Khoo said there is “absolutely no ambiguity” and the Scarborough Shoal is “Filipino territory”.
“The challenge is that China doesn’t respect the Filipino position, nor does it respect the international legal issue that is at stake here.”
He said the situation “underlines the importance of New Zealand standing up for the international legal order” and for it to continue to “reassert our interest in freedom of navigation”, adding that “there should not be an aggressive use of force to attempt to solve issues”.
Khoo said the film clearly contradicts China’s narrative and that will be why officials are working to prevent its screening.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on behalf of government officials and said it fully supports freedom of expression.
In relation to the territorial disputes, it said New Zealand does not take a position on individual claims in the South China Sea, but did want disputes resolved peacefully via diplomacy and in accordance with international law, in particular the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
In China the film has also been heavily criticised. Commentators with its state-run network described it as revealing a “pattern of selective storytelling that serves broader political interests” and a “propaganda piece” that “dodges the gritty geopolitics of the region and the realities of the territorial issues and maritime disputes”.
Villarama told 1News today she had deliberately chosen to shine the lens on the people rather than the politics.
“Because we really want to celebrate us as people, without politicising the issue. We want to diplomatically reach out and share our personal stories, because the more personal we go, the more authentic we can be with others.”
She said she held no animosity towards China, and invited those opposed to her documentary to go and watch “so they can know the truth about our people”.
“We don’t have any agenda. There is no ‘Western influence’.”
