Visibility and Invisibility
An Examination of Hong Kong’s Film Censorship System during the Cold War Period
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11943533 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ziheng Zhou (0009-0008-6670-7590, Sun Yat-sen University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-23 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Imperial & Commonwealth History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0308-6534 • E-ISSN: 1743-9329 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03086534.2025.2609964 |
| OpenAlex | W7119679799 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
To maintain social order and convey political attitudes, the British who returned to Asia after the Second World War gradually established a film censorship system in Hong Kong, imposing restrictions on film content and screening venues. This system operated between visible and invisible aspects to highlight multiple considerations underlying post-war Hong Kong film censorship. During the cold war, British Hong Kong authorities managed films from numerous regions on either sides of the ideological divide. Accordingly, they found it challenging to make selections and maintain a relatively impartial attitude towards film censorship. However, the British Hong Kong authorities fundamentally protected local interests and maintained their ruling position by strictly monitoring and managing the films that potentially affected social stability, revealing the sophistry inherent in colonialism. This study examines and verifies the origins and evolution of the post-war Hong Kong film censorship system to clarify the profound implications of the British Hong Kong authorities’ cultural policies and the balancing act of the censorship system under multiple discourses, including international and local, Western and Eastern, and cooperation and restriction contexts.
Censorship · Cold war · Period (music · Visibility · World War II · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Cinema and Media Studies · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |