Responsive Image

ABC to screen controversial documentary

Originally published by Media Spy,16 Apr 2010

 The ABC will broadcast a controversial documentary film about the Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, dousing accusations earlier this year that the broadcaster had shelved it for fear of causing offence to China.

The 10 Conditions of Love, shot in 2009, will air at 9:30pm on Thursday 6 May on the main ABC1 channel. The film profiles the life and activism of Kadeer, and has attracted strong condemnation from the Chinese government, which has branded Kadeer a terrorist determined to foment “anti-China separatism”.

The ABC’s publicity material describes her as “a remarkable woman paying a terrible price for patriotism”. Kadeer – who now lives in the US – has long campaigned for greater rights and autonomy for the Uighur ethnic minority in Xinjiang province.

In February, the documentary’s producer John Lewis claimed that he had been given assurances that the film would be shown in December last year, but that the screening had been scrapped on the grounds that it might cause offence.

The scheduling of the film confirms comments made at the time by managing director Mark Scott, who rejected any suggestion that the ABC had “buckled” to outside pressure.

“It was never locked in for December 17, I’m told, and we will be showing it this year,” he said.

http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/04/16/abc-to-screen-controversial-documentary/