A filmmaker made a documentary about rare protests in China. Now he’s going on trial

Hong Kong CNN —

A Chinese filmmaker was due to stand trial Monday over his documentary about China’s nationwide protests against Covid lockdowns in late 2022, as Beijing seeks to erase public memories of stunning scenes of dissent against its handling of the pandemic.

Chen Pinlin was scheduled to appear in a Shanghai court on Monday afternoon on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” according to a photo of the hearing notice issued by the Shanghai Baoshan People’s Court. A person familiar with the case confirmed to CNN the authenticity of the notice.

The vaguely worded charge is commonly used by the Chinese government to silence dissent and target activists, lawyers and journalists. It carries a maximum prison term of five years for first-time offenders.

Chen, who goes by the name “Plato,” was arrested by Shanghai police in January 2024 after releasing a documentary to mark the first anniversary of what became known as the “White Paper” protests.

The protests markedthe largest outpouring of public dissent China had seen in decades and posed an unprecedented challenge to leader Xi Jinping.

The demonstrations were sparked by a deadly apartment fire in the western city of Urumqi in November 2022. Many believed pandemic lockdown measures had hampered rescue efforts, despite official denials. The tragedy ignited deep public anger that had been boiling over after nearly three years of rolling lockdowns, mass testing and financial hardship.

Protests erupted across the country, on a scale unseen since the student-led Tiananmen movement in 1989. On university campuses and the streets of major cities, crowds gathered to call for an end to Xi’s zero-Covid policy, with some decrying censorship and demanding