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The website of the Melbourne International Film Festival was hacked into on Friday 24^th July 2009 – the first day of the festival – by hackers with a Chinese ISP.   In addition to posting slogans against Rebiya Kadeer, the champion of the rights of Muslim Uighurs in China and an image of the Chinese flag, the hackers also bombarded the site with abusive e-mails in an attempt to make it crash.

Richard Moore, the director of the festival, told the Melbourne Age newspaper, ‘The language has been vile.   It is obviously a concerted campaign to get us because we've refused to comply with the Chinese Government's demands.’

To add to its woes, the festival also lost the sponsorship of Hong Kong’s Trade and Economic Office when it failed to replace Tang Xiaobai’s Perfect Life, which was pulled in protest at the screening of Daniel’s film.  Moore told the Age that his plans to replace Perfect Life were frustrated at the last minute.   ‘We paid the screening fee and the new film, 'Claustrophobia,' was en route to Melbourne,’ he said, ‘Then I got an email saying they've withdrawn it, no explanation.’

Moore confirmed that the festival had reported the attacks to police, and that he was discussing security arrangements for the premiere of the film, which Kadeer was expected to attend, on 8^th August 2009.   Private security guards were being hired to protect the businesswoman at the screening.

The festival’s opening night, at which Robert Connolly’s Balibo received its world premiere, went off without any major incidents, although a peaceful protest against the screening of Israeli-born filmmaker Tatia Rosenthal’s $9.99, an Australian-Israeli co-production, was staged by campaigners against Israel’s treatment of Palestine.  The protest followed British director Ken Loach’s decision to withdraw his film Looking for Eric from the festival because of the inclusion of Rosenthal’s film.

16/7/2009: China tries to Stop 10 Conditions of Love

22/7/09: Chinese Withdraw Films from Melbourne Film Festival

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