Yesterday, the Culture News could report that the documentary Fall Hammarskjöld may not be shown at the festival Hainan island festival in Chinese Sanya.

The reason is believed to be that the Minister of Culture Amanda Lind (MP) earlier in November awarded the Swedish PEN's Tucholsky Prize to the Swedish-Chinese publisher Gui Minhai. The Chinese embassy then threatened with "consequences".

Now filmmaker Nisti Stêrk says that her film, "Only Sweden's Swedish comedians," has been stopped from appearing in China, something Expressen was the first to report.

The poster changed and the festival away

Stêrk went to Beijing a week ago to attend the Chinese women's film festival. Movie screenings and conversations were scheduled.

- The first master class went well, it was in Beijing and we met female filmmakers who talked about what it was like to make film in China, which is not so easy, there are so many rules, says Nisti Sterk to the Cultural News.

Then it headed off to Shenyang where the festival has a Swedish section.

- When we get there we see that the Swedish comedians poster has changed. Everything called "Sweden" had to be eliminated, says Nisti Stêrk.

"Order from Beijing"

A screening could be conducted without any problems. But the next morning, an employee of the Swedish Cultural Council knocked on the door, announcing that film festival organizers and employees at the cultural house where the film was shown were interrogated by authorities during the night.

- The order came from Beijing. Organizers and cultural house workers were interrogated for hours, says Nisti Stêrk.

A total of three screenings had to be canceled, an informal conversation between female filmmakers was monitored by police, and a person working at a bookstore where the film was to be shown had their computer seized, Stêrk says.

She also says that the authorities had told the organizers that the reason for the hearing was the conflict between Sweden and China due to Gui Minhai.

- The organizer said that the authorities said.

The Cultural Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Film Institute have been informed.