Filmmaker wins lawsuit against censorship in Chinese court

Beijing, Dec 30 (IANS/EFE) Director Fan Popo says he won a lawsuit targeting censorship in China, but the victory is only partial because he must continue his fight to screen a film.

A Beijing court ruled against the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television for not giving sufficient explanation to Fan for removing his film from online sites.

Although the sentence is light -- the agency has to pay only 50 yuan (about $7) and the film has not yet been cleared for screening -- the ruling is seen as having great symbolic value.

This is the first time a Chinese court accepted a lawsuit against an act of censorship and, moreover, sided with the plaintiff.

"Now, I am going to negotiate with the web pages (that had removed the movie) to see if I can put the video up again," said the 30-year-old Fan, who went to court in September after seven fruitless months trying through administrative channels to get the film online.

The movie in the lawsuit is "Mama Rainbow", which tells the story of six Chinese mothers whose children are gay, like Fan, who has been campaigning for greater integration of gays in Chinese society for more than a decade.

--IANS/EFE

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