A Filmless Festival

Overnight, the 11th annual Beijing Independent Film Festival in the capital city of China was banned. It ended before it ever began. We follow the rapid sequence of events from the cutting off of the building’s water and electricity supply to the seizure of all festival property. What exactly threatens the organisers of cultural events in a country where artistic liberty is considered a crime? Will they succumb or will the screenings still take place? A look behind the scenes of the festival organisation and the steps taken after it was cancelled is tensely recorded using authentic footage, mainly from the mobile phones of the organisers, film makers, activists and passers-by.