From Control to National Security: Colonial Film Censorship in Hong Kong (1908-1930)

Film censorship began in Hong Kong in 1908. Under the colonial credo of “law and order,” all types of public performances, including cinema exhibition, had to be approved and regulated by the government. Though government supervision rested primarily on the venues rather than the contents of the shows, the intent to control was inherent in the colonial raison d’etre of profits and stability. This article delineates the various stages of the colonial government’s control and management of cinema as a business and a social institution before the 1930s. It argues that the control of cinema is rooted in the underpinning ideology of colonialism to safeguard British rule. Such control of motion pictures began shortly after motion pictures entered the colony circa 1900. Taking this early view, I want to emphasize that film censorship in Hong Kong was not a unique Cold War phenomenon, prompted by managing the perceived ‘threat’ from Communist China, as much of the current literature assumes. In the long history of film practices before the Cold War, we see the constant monitoring of entertainment and cultural activities by the colonial administration in response to hazards and externalities of all sorts.