In August 2018, the United Nations reported serious concerns over human rights violations taking place in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the Northwest of China. At the same time, an international film crew was hard at work, shooting scenes for Walt Disney Pictures’ $200 million live action version of “Mulan” — a story based on a traditional Chinese folk tale about a young girl who impersonates a man, in order to join the military in battle against invading forces.
Just a short distance away from the cameras lay barbed-wire-fenced camps, where thousands of people were being held simply for belonging to majority-Muslim ethnic groups. The film’s credits include the Public Security Office of Turpan, a city that operates several such facilities. Calls for an international boycott from activists and advocacy groups followed the film’s release in March.
Despite the public outrage, Beijing’s efforts to maintain an appearance of normality in Xinjiang continue. Recently, a number of Chinese films have been produced in the region, promoting a rigid nationalist ideology and presenting state-sanctioned images of the region and its people.
Among them is “The Wings of Songs,” a lavish musical that premiered in 2019 in China’s capital to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. The movie was partly shot in Tacheng, on the border of China and Kazakhstan, an area where at least seven internment camps have been located by satellite imaging. The film promotes national, pan-ethnic unity by showing friendships between young Kazakhs, Uyghurs and people from the nation’s Han majority traveling across a vibrant and colorful region to share their passion for music and dance.
