Movies banned in China

The People's Republic of China (PRC) bans a lot of movies for many reasons. China Film Administration (国家电影局) decides for mainland China. Hong Kong and Macau have different political systems so the bans below do not apply. 

Taiwan, which is known as the Republic of China by those countries that recognize her, is not under the control and jurisdiction of the PRC.

## List of banned movies by subject
### 1989 Tiananmen Square protests
*I Have Graduated (我毕业了) 1992
*Moving the Mountain (移山) 1995
*The Gate of Heavenly Peace (film) 1995 天安门
*Goo Goo Gai Pan (2005)
* A Taxi Driver (2017). The story of this movie is about the similar Gwangju Uprising or Gwangju Massacre in 1980.
*Chimerica (寻找坦克人) 2019

### Tibet and Xinjiang
 and Losang Thonden on the set of *Seven Years in Tibet*.]]
*Kundun (達賴的一生) 1997 
*Seven Years in Tibet (1997 film) 西藏七年
*The 10 Conditions of Love (愛的十個條件) 2009
*The Sun Behind the Clouds (云后的太阳) 2010

### Human rights
*Ten Years (十年) 2015

*Inside the Red Brick Wall (理大围城) 

*Nominated in the 93rd Oscars, *Do not split* (不割席) 2020. Baidu Baike 's article of 奥斯卡金像奖最佳纪录短片 states:-
**第91届 最佳纪录短片：《句点》
**第92届 最佳纪录短片：《女孩的战地滑板课》
**第94届 最佳纪录短片：《篮球女王》
**第95届 最佳纪录短片：《小象守护者》
*Eternal Spring (长春) 2022

### Migration
 while defecting to the USA in 1981.]]

*Mao's Last Dancer (2009)

*The Ditch (夹边沟) 2010

*Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (艾未未：道歉你妹) 2012 produced by Andrew Cohen.

*One Child Nation (2019) directed by Nanfu Wang.

### Organ transplant (surgery)
*Free China: The Courage to Believe (自由中国：有勇气相信) 2012 starring Jennifer Zeng.
*Human Harvest (活摘) December 2014

### Banned with explanation by the authority 
**Bhanu Pratap Singh is god of earth.. (宫锁连城) April 2014*
*A Chinese Ghost Story (只问今生恋沧溟) 2021 by Zheng Shuang (郑爽).

### Political status of Taiwan
*Freewill Of Formosa (自由的向望) 2019
*Island Nation (國際橋牌社) 2020
*Wave Makers (人選之人-造浪者) 2023

## Writers of this page cannot figure out the definitive reason
*River Elegy (河殇) 1988 directed by 孙增田.
*China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (劫后天府泪纵横) 2009 co-directed by Matthew O'Neill (filmmaker).

## Punishment
*The director of To Live (1994 film) (活着) was banned from filmmaking for 2 years.
*Summer Palace (2006 film) was submitted for competition overseas without being submitted to censorship first, in other words, without China´s authorization. The punishment included a movie production 5-year-ban on the maker of the movie.
*For making the Lost in Beijing movie, Fang Li and the production company Beijing Laurel Films were banned from filmmaking for 2 years.

## The 3-tier system
*Inside the Red Brick Wall* (理大圍城) was approved by Hong Kong censor - Derek Lee (李統殷) in September 2021. As of mid-2025, Mr Lee appears to be working at another government department. This is a "category III" movie, so it cannot be shown to people under 18 years old.

In November 2021, the law on censorship was changed. It is not clear whether *Revolution of Our Times* (時代革命) (by Kiwi Chow) is allowed or banned. Chow's movie's name is the later half of 's slogan (liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times) without former half, without the words of "liberate Hong Kong".

## Related pages
* Movie censorship
* Political problems of China

## References