China bans Chinese film censored for explicit sex scenes, punishes producer

China has pulled a movie already censored for its sexually explicit scenes from theaters and banned its producer for two years, a move the filmmaker said Friday was motivated by the spread of uncut, pirated copies of the film.

The action against director Li Yu's "Lost in Beijing" is unusual because it comes after the film already was heavily edited and released in movie theaters.

The ruling against "Lost in Beijing," accuses filmmakers of publishing unapproved pornographic scenes from the movie on the Internet and on DVDs, according to a copy of the order and published on the Web site of the official China News Service. The agency said the order was dated Thursday.

It also alleges the movie _ a powerful indictment of deteriorating morals amid China's rapid economic growth _ was promoted with "unhealthy, improper" advertisements. Producer Fang Li said was an apparent reference to the wording, "indulgent body, lost soul" used on movie posters.

Fang denied illegally releasing the film, whose censored version is already out on legitimate DVD. The US$1.2 million (810,000) production, which was released in theaters on Nov. 30, has made more than 13 million Chinese yuan (US$1.8 million; 1.2 million) at the Chinese box office and is expected to break even, the producer said.

"Why would I give the movie to pirates and hurt my own movie?" Fang said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

"We are the victims of piracy. We are the biggest victims," he said.

Fang said he believed Chinese officials faced political pressure to act amid the rapid spread on the Internet and in pirated DVDs of uncensored versions of this and another sexually explicit film, Oscar-winning Taiwanese director Ang Lee's spy thriller "Lust, Caution."

The order against "Lost in Beijing" came days after a new warning about pornography and a requirement that video sharing Web sites apply for permits.

The order about pornography said some movie companies and Web site operators had illegally broadcast pornography and "inflicted significant harm on youth audiences."

Separately, video sharing and movie download Web sites were ordered to register with the government _ and limited applicants to state-controlled or state-owned companies, a move that may affect privately owned video sharing Web sites.

Fang said earlier he edited "Lost in Beijing" to cut explicit sex scenes and a side character _ a fired foot masseuse who becomes a prostitute _ as well as scenes showing dirty streets, gambling, and Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the site of pro-democracy protests that prompted a bloody military crackdown in 1989.