Chinese film Summer Palace was rejected by Chinese authority again, according to Life Nanjing, a newspaper owned by the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Summer Palace producer Nai An told the paper that they were ready to resubmit the film for censorship again but they were simply told to wait for further notice because the authority "needs more time to consider." Summer Palace was selected to compete for the Golden Palm in April and its production company Laurel Films submitted it for censorship just one day before its scheduled world premiere in Cannes. The authority refused to watch the film, claiming it contains audible and and visual defects. The film was screened in Cannes in May as planned, but without a certificate from the Chinese authority. A day later, Laurel Films resubmitted another copy and rejected again. This time, the authority said only a "magnetic Beta tape transferred from celluloid" was acceptable. Summer Palace has been sold to almost twenty countries and distribution in North American, some European countries, Japan and South Korea is under negotiation.

Chinese director Lou Ye's Summer Palace is among 25 titles being booked by the Toronto International Film Festival. About two young lover's rollercoaster relationship against the backdrop of the drastically changing China from 1989 to 2000, Summer Palace premièred at this year's Cannes Film Festival without an official release certificate from the Chinese government. According to Beijing-based Laurel Films, one of the film's producing studios, the censorship authority was not satisfied by the quality of the beta copy of the film, submitted to it just one day before the film's scheduled world première in Cannes,  and refused to watch it. However, it has be speculated that several scenes with nudity and sex as well as some content associated to the civil movement in 1989 are the major barriers for Summer Palace to get a clearance from the Chinese government. It is possible that the makers are still pushing for a release in China, but the authority may have already decided to ban it in China by not granting a release certificate, just like what it did to dozens of other Chinese films, like Zhang Yimou's To Live and Tian Zhuangzhuang's The Blue Kite. Since Summer Palace is a Chinese / French co-production, showing it outside of the mainland China is not affected by the ban. However, the Chinese makers of the film are facing severe punishment threatened by the Chinese officials. Laurel Films and director Lou Ye may be forbidden from making more movies.

(Thanks to "Nick")

A new copy of Summer Palace was submitted to the Chinese censorship authority and was rejected again. According to producer Nai An, they had tried all available technical means to "fix" the film, including brightening the image, but the Chinese Film Bureau still refused to accept the new copy because it was not a "magnetic Beta tape transferred from celluloid." Several officials from the bureau have told  the Chinese media, that showing the film at Cannes was illegal according to Chinese regulation and had to be punished. Reportedly, director Lou Ye, now at the forefront of the whole controversy, has returned to Beijing from Cannes to handle the damage control. However, no matter what he would do, even to cut any scene or content as required, the hope for getting a release certificate is very slim. And even a butchered Summer Palace was allowed for release, it would not do well at the box-office.

At Cannes, the Summer Palace has been promoted as a film set in the backdrop of the civil protest in 1989's Beijing. Neither director Lou Ye nor the Chinese production companies have admitted that the film makes any reference to that event. Another focal point is several sex and nude scenes featured in the film. Such scenes, especially female nude scenes, were occasionally available on the film and TV screens in China from the 1980s to 1990s but are banned now. There has yet been any film rating system adopted in China and movies must be made suitable for people of all ages before being allowed for public release. Films and TV shows containing female nudities are all been labeled as pornographic materials, which are restrictively prohibited in China. On the other hand, movies with violent and scary scenes are regularly shown on the big screen in China and children have rarely been restricted from entering movie theaters. Such scenes have never been too extreme but are still not suitable for the under-aged. For years the public has been crying for a rating system and the censorship authority has promised to look at the possibility of introducing a system of such but has never given any timetable.   

Several Chinese newspapers report that a committee in charge of movie censorship has refused to watch a submitted beta version of Summer Palace, after it concluded the film was a defect. According to an officer from the Chinese Film Bureau, the film was unable to see and hear clearly, and they had demanded another copy of the film, with "brighter visual and clearer audio." Director Lou Ye was shocked by the result, because the visual and audio "problems" are exactly what he he intends to show to the audiences. Producer Nai An, who has been questioning the professional credibility of the members of the committee, said the quality of the version submitted to Cannes Film Festival was even worse but it did not stop the film being selected for competition.  Summer Palace has been scheduled for the world première tomorrow in Cannes and so far, neither Lou Ye nor the Chinese authority are loosening their positions. Screening the film without the official approval from the Chinese government would lead to banning the film in China and severe punishment on its makers. Giving in to the censors would be a big blow to China's independent filmmakers and would definitely damage Lou Ye's reputation as one of the most stylish directors in today's China.

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'Palace' in China's doghouse - Country's censors wont review competition film, by Winnie Chung and Joanthan Landreth, The Hollywood Reporter

The complete schedule for Cannes Film Festival has been made available at the official website of The 59th Cannes Film Festival. Summer Palace, Silk and Election 2 are arranged for being screened at Grand Théâtre Lumière, the single most important place for Cannes Film Festival. Summer Palace is scheduled for the world première two days from today, but it is not guaranteed whether it will arrive at Cannes on time because it was only submitted to Chinese Film Bureau for censorship yesterday. Director Lou Ye and several major cast members have postponed their trip to Cannes and they have been getting ready for pulling the film out of the festival at any moment. Summer Palace was selected for competition based on a video of a rough cut of the film, submitted by the film's overseas co-producer.