China Boycotts the Academy Awards for the Second Year in a Row
The relationship between China and Hollywood is fraught.
China has long been a popular place for Hollywood to roll out new titles, especially high-budget action movies. But the relationship between the United States and China has been tricky as of late, and Hollywood is suffering.
We covered how they were limiting which movies debuted there, canceling many new releases. Now, for the second year in a row, China will boycott the Academy Awards, and not show them in the country.
In years past, CCTV6 would show the ceremony on Monday morning thanks to a time difference. And its website 1905.com would stream the ceremony as well. Now, they're not being shown at all.
Last year's controversy had to do with Chloé Zhao, who had spoken out about China's repressive leadership. Analysts also wondered about Do Not Split, a short film about Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, which was nominated in the short doc category.
This year, we have no direct link, but according to an insider that the Hollywood Reporter spoke to, they "floated two possibilities: official discomfort over the best documentary nomination of Jessica Kingdon’s impressionistic film Ascension, which explores the machinations of the Chinese economy; and concerns about any pro-Ukrainian statement that might be made from the Oscars awards podium."
These tense conflicts across the world have ramifications at every level. Hollywood is a very small one, but we'll try to keep you updated as things happen.
