Alexis Tam dismisses film ban allegations

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, has dismissed the allegation that the local government interfered with a screening of the film “Selma,” which was reportedly banned from the city’s cinemas due to political reasons.
According to the coverage published on the online media outlet Macau Concealers (MC) on March 12, the film, which depicts civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.’s relentless pursuit of race equality for African Americans, would not be released in any of the city’s theaters this month.
Nonetheless, the 52-year-old secretary dispelled the public’s concerns while speaking on the sidelines of an art exhibition opening ceremony at MGM yesterday afternoon, claiming that the allegation was “untruthful” and “impossible.”
“Our Macau is a society with freedom of speech. How could a film be banned from screening? It is impossible,” said Tam. “It is absolutely not a fact and it will never occur.”
He added that the absence of the film in the city was possibly due to cinemas’ belated applications for screening, or because their schedules were incompatible with the film. He also reassured the media that it had nothing to do with national education.
The head of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ung Vai Meng, who was also present at the ceremony, told media that the Bureau’s entertainment ratings committee has, so far, not received any applications for grading the film.
Nonetheless, the UA Galaxy Cinema confirmed to Macau Concealers that the cinema would not play the film, stressing that its schedule this month was too full for it.
Later yesterday afternoon, the SAR government also issued a statement clarifying its support for freedom of speech, and denying any intervention in the screening of “Selma.”
The film was embroiled in controversy when John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn, better known by their stage names, John Legend and Common, mentioned Hong Kong during their acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for Best Original Song.
“This bridge [Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge] was once a landmark of a divided nation, but now is a symbol for change,” Common said. “The spirit of this bridge connects the kid from the south side of Chicago, dreaming of a better life, to those in France standing up for their freedom of expression, to the people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy.” Staff reporter