The future is now

“Ten Years", a film that portrays a dystopian future Hong Kong under tight Chinese Communist Party control, has been a hit in Hong Kong and abroad, selling out cinemas, sparking discussions and being screened at international film festivals.

But Chinese state media has criticised the film and that has aroused new concern about mainland influence over Hong Kong despite a “one country, two systems” formula that is meant to preserve the Hong Kong’s autonomy.

“Ten Years” is a series of five short stories. Set in the year 2025, it includes scenes of a self-immolation in front of Hong Kong’s British Consulate and an assassination attempt in a city election.

The scenes, while fictional, underscore tension simmering between the mainland and the former British colony that was returned to Chinese control in 1997.

The film has been nominated for Best Picture at the Hong Kong Film Awards, due to be announced on April 3.

The makers of “Ten Years” say their project began before pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in late 2014 that exacerbated long-standing concern in the city about creeping mainland control.

“We were just trying to produce a film that we thought was true and reflected what is really happening in Hong Kong,” said executive producer Andrew Choi. “Our intent was not to be a political film.”

In a January editorial, China’s state-controlled Global Times denounced “Ten Years” as absurd and pessimistic and said it was a “thought virus”.

Soon after, screenings were stopped in Hong Kong cinemas, with operators telling the filmmakers they could no longer show it because of scheduling issues.

Some people doubted that explanation.

“It was breaking all kinds of box office records. Almost every single show at every theatre was full,” Shu Kei, chairman of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, School of Film and Television. “But even with that smashing record, suddenly the cinema would tell the film makers, ‘no, we are not going to book the film’.”

Just days before the Film Awards, speculation is swirling that the ceremony will not be broadcast on the mainland because of the Best Picture nomination for “Ten Years”.

Media in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the US have reported that state-run China Central Television and the Chinese social media company Tencent, which have the rights to the awards, have decided not to broadcast it.

The companies did not respond to requests for comment and the awards organiser, the Hong Kong Film Awards Association, declined to comment.

Of the two offices that oversee Hong Kong for the Chinese government, the Liaison Office in Hong Kong did not respond to a request for comment, while the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office was not available for comment.

“Ten Years” was made on a budget of HK$500,000 (Bt2.24 million) by an essentially volunteer crew. It made more than HK$6 million at the box office.