Australia: Melbourne Film Festival Still Under Attack

The Melbourne Film Festival is still facing heat from the Chinese Communist Party. It appears CCP officials and Chinese hackers are doing their best to keep the festival from showing “Ten Conditions of Love,” a film about the life of exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.

A new attack by Chinese hackers has flooded the film festival’s online ticket office with fake purchases, forcing the festival to shut down their online ticket site.

And on another front, Beijing demanded that the Australian government deny Kadeer a visa to attend the festival—where she is scheduled to be a speaker.

All together, seven Chinese and Taiwanese directors have pulled their films from the festival in protest, leaving the festival with no Chinese language entries. According to festival organizers, the Hong Kong and Taipei trade offices were forced to withdraw their financial support after the directors left the festival.

But in spite of the pressure, neither Canberra nor the festival’s director, Richard Moore, have given ground. Kadeer has been granted her visa, and will still be a guest at the festival.

(NTDTV)