BEIJING, April 25 -- Videographer ¡°Hu Daoge,¡± the unidentified creator of the online satirical video ¡°Sparkling Red Star: Pan Dongzi Competing in Singing Contest,¡± released an apology Sunday on the Web to People¡¯s Liberation Army August 1 Film Studio and CCTV Young Singer Contest.

    The online video, dubbing clips from the 1974 patriotic film produced by August 1 Film Studio, mocks the upcoming CCTV singing contest. The video creates a story line where the young patriot¡¯s father successfully bribes the singing contest judge and the little boy competes strictly for the money. On Saturday, August 1 Film Studio took both the videographer and CCTV to task in a statement, saying that CCTV¡¯s acceptance of the video is incomprehensible.

    The film studio said the changes to the 1974 film not only include dirty language, subtitles and changing the studio name from ¡°August 1¡± to ¡°August 7,¡± but also changing the story so that the little hero dreams of making money through singing. ¡°The changes not only hurt filmmakers but also mislead youngsters. Those who ignore the Chinese revolutionary history will encourage more people to mock patriotic movies.¡±

    The film studio also said the ¡°Pan Dongzi¡± video is different from Hu Ge¡¯s ¡°Steamed Bun¡± in that the latter only mocks a commercial film, while ¡°Sparkling Red Star¡± is a well-known revolutionary classic. ¡°As China¡¯s No.1 TV network, CCTV¡¯s callousness to the issue is not understandable. Its catering to public opinion is suspect.¡±

    In the posted apology, ¡°Hu Daoge¡± said: ¡°I was greatly touched by the August 1 Film Studio¡¯s statement. I didn¡¯t expect an imprudent activity would cause such a serious result. I call for all netizens and Web sites not to spread or download the video any more, otherwise all the aftereffects have nothing to do with me.¡±

    August 1 Film Studio said it is still considering a lawsuit.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily)