When Chloe Zhao of China won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director for her movie "Nomanland" a few days ago, she was praised by the Chinese media, and a newspaper described it as "the pride of China."

But the mood quickly changed, and things turned completely against the young director.

In a report published by the American New York Times, writers Amy Chen and Amy Chang Qian say that the Chinese Internet Police monitored an interview Zhao conducted in 2013 with an American magazine, in which she said that China is a place "where lies are spread everywhere."

Observers also found a recent interview with an Australian website, in which Zhao, who studied in the United States and now lives there, said, "At the end of the day, the United States is my country now."

Later, the Australian website that conducted the interview explained that he had mistakenly quoted the director's speech, and that she actually said, "The United States is not my country." But the damage had been done, and a campaign led by Chinese nationalists was launched against the director, wondering why she was celebrated if she was She considers herself American, not Chinese.

According to the two authors, Internet censors have intervened in China since last Friday, and searches in Chinese for the hashtags "#Nomadland" and "#Nomadland will be released" on Weibo, the most popular social networking platform in China, have been banned. Also, promotional materials for the film are in Chinese, and announcements of when the film will start showing in China, scheduled for April 23, have been removed from prominent websites on the Internet.

Although the Chinese authorities have not taken any official decision against the film or the director, the Internet censorship campaign is - according to the authors - new evidence of the growing nationalist sentiments in China and the increasing challenges faced by filmmakers.

A serious threat to filmmakers

For a long time, the Chinese government was the sole film regulator, licensing foreign films to gain access to Chinese movie theaters.

Now, it is clear that the nationalists exert a huge influence over the Internet and can control the fate of a movie or movie production company, the authors say.

Therefore, many production and distribution companies are working to win the favor of the nationalists in order to enter the Chinese market without problems.

The two writers add that the violent campaign against the "nomadic land" was not expected, as the idea of ​​the film revolves around a group of contemporary "hippies" who roam around the United States, a topic that has nothing to do with China and does not contain any political messages that might stir nationalist sentiments.

Also, it was not expected to attract large audiences when it was shown in Chinese halls due to the limited number of shows that were programmed and due to the slow pace of the film.

According to the two writers, this anti-director Chloe Chow campaign may constitute a real obstacle to her upcoming movie "Eternalness", produced by Marvel Studios, a Disney company, starring Angelina Jolie, Camille Nanjiani and Salma Hayek.

The film is scheduled to premiere in the United States in November, but the date of its release in China has not yet been announced.

The movie "Eternal" was expected to achieve great success in China, because its director is Chinese, but what happened in the past few days may deal a heavy blow to the film and to Marvel, which has achieved great success in the Chinese market through previous films such as "Avengers: Endgame." ".

Such a scenario would be especially devastating under the current circumstances, as the epidemic wiped out the box office in all major markets around the world, with the exception of China, which managed to control the spread of the virus to a large extent and where the local film industry has flourished.

The idea of ​​the movie revolves around a group of contemporary "hippies" who roam the United States (networking sites)

Who is Chow?

Until recently, few Chinese had heard of director Chloe Zhao, who turned 38.

Born in Beijing, Zhao received her primary education at a boarding school in London, then studied during high school in California, and eventually went to New York University Film School.

Before "Nomadland", which won the Golden Globe for Best Director, Chow made her famous thanks to the films "Songs I Teach Me, My Brothers" (2015) and "The Rider" (2017).

In China, Zhao is best known as the daughter-in-law of famous comedian Song Dandan, who in 1997 married the father of Zhao, the former head of a Chinese state-owned iron company.

And when she speaks for herself, Zhao says she is the product of her years of traveling around the world, asserting that her Chinese roots are part of that identity.

In a report published by "New York Magazine" recently, Zhao says that the people of northern China are "its indigenous people."

The "Global Times", a Chinese government-backed newspaper, quoted on its official Twitter account on Wednesday, a public relations official at "Disney" as saying that Zhao is a Chinese citizen, in response to the recent campaign that targeted her because of her statement to the Australian site.

Chinese defend Zhao

The interview, in which Zhao said there are "lies everywhere" in China, was first published in 2013 in the US magazine Filmmaker.

The statement was in the article until last October, according to the magazine's web archive.

By mid-February, the permit had been removed, and the magazine stated that the article "was edited and abbreviated after publication."

The magazine refused to respond to the "New York Times" request for comment, and the director could not be contacted.

According to the authors, many Chinese responded to the fierce campaign against Zhao, and considered that stirring nationalist sentiments on this issue was an exaggeration.

And many said that "Nomadland" was a beautiful act "that exalted the ugliness of politics and national borders."

Some considered it strange that Chinese nationalists were trying to clamp down on a movie that seemed to fit perfectly with the narrative promoted by the official propaganda apparatus, which is that the United States is in retreat against the rise of China as a superpower.

“Nomadland, by Chloe Zhao, profoundly reveals the plight of lower-class American citizens and the difficult lives of the American people. This should strengthen our pride in socialism and our confidence in the Chinese model. The pride of the Chinese people, not someone who insults China. "