Beijing Independent Film Festival


The Beijing Independent Film Festival is an annual independent film festival in Beijing, China. It has a history of being challenged by the Chinese authorities.
The organizer of the event is the Li Xianting Film Fund, founded by Li Xianting. The executive director is Fan Rong.
The 11th edition of the festival, scheduled to run from Saturday 23 August 2014 until the end of the month did not open, after police detained the organizers and forced them to write a letter to say they were cancelling the event. Police blocked off access to the site, while electricity to the venue was cut off. Organizers said the local authorities had been unhelpful in the days leading up to the festival's opening and pressure had been brought to bear for the event not to proceed. It was understood by the organizers that the government was concerned the festival would be used as a forum to criticize the government.