China Censors a Film, Then Bans It Entirely

The New York Times
January 05, 2008

China has pulled Li Yu's "Lost in Beijing," a movie whose sexually explicit scenes were already censored, from theaters and banned its producer from the film business for two years, The Associated Press reported. The ruling against "Lost in Beijing" accused the filmmakers of publishing unapproved pornographic scenes from the movie on the Internet and on DVDs, the official China News Service Web site reported. The film's producer, Fang Li, said he believed that Chinese officials faced political pressure to act amid the rapid spread of uncensored versions of "Lost in Beijing" and another sexually explicit film, Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution," on the Internet and in pirated DVDs.