Published: 9:41pm, 20 Feb 2025Updated: 9:52pm, 20 Feb 2025
German police have launched an investigation after Hong Kong director Jun Li Jun-shuo read out a pro-Palestine speech by an Iranian actor at the Berlin International Film Festival.
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Local police confirmed on Thursday they were looking into the incident, but it was not immediately clear whether Li was also under investigation.
“The statement [by Li] gives rise to initial suspicion of using symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organisations,” Anja Dierschke, deputy press spokeswoman of Berlin police, told the Post.
Hong Kong’s Immigration Department also said on Thursday it had sought to understand the situation through the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong and the Chinese embassy in Germany. It added it had not received any requests for assistance from Hongkongers so far over the matter.
Videos of Li giving the speech at the festival, where he was premiering his latest film Queerpanorama, were recorded and uploaded online.
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The director is best known for his 2021 film Drifting, a drama about homelessness, which won best adapted screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.
According to German media, the speech was by Erfan Shekarriz, one of the actors in Li’s latest film and who had boycotted the festival, which is commonly known as the Berlinale.