This archive collects the film, statements, and coverage documenting the case of Chen Pinlin (陈品霖), the Shanghai filmmaker sentenced to three and a half years in prison for documenting the 2022 White Paper protests. For his biography and case history, see the companion person profile: Chen Pinlin (陈品霖) — White Paper Movement Documentary Filmmaker.
The film
- 《乌鲁木齐中路》 (Urumqi Middle Road) — 77-minute independent documentary, released November 2023 (first anniversary of the protests). International English title: “Not the Foreign Force” / NOT THE FOREIGN FORCE.
- Content: footage shot by Chen and a friend on Urumqi Middle Road, Shanghai, on November 26–27, 2022 — candlelight vigils, blank-paper protests, and police response — assembled with the director’s reflections.
- Distribution: uploaded to YouTube and X, often under Chen’s pseudonym “Plato”; both platforms are blocked in mainland China. The channels were later shut down, per secondary reporting.
- Director’s stated purpose (from his release post, as translated by the MCLC Resource Center): to counter the official narrative blaming “foreign forces” for the protests — “I hope to explore why, whenever internal conflicts arise in China, foreign forces are always made the scapegoat… Only by remembering the ugliness can we strive toward the light.”
Coverage chronology
- November 2022 — The protests: crowds gather on Urumqi Middle Road, Shanghai, mourning Urumqi fire victims and opposing zero-COVID controls; blank paper becomes the movement’s symbol. (Context widely documented; see the White Paper movement background in the person profile.)
- November 2023 — Chen releases the documentary; detained days later (Nov 28–29, 2023). Rights websites (维权网) disclose the detention.
- January 5, 2024 — Formal arrest for suspected 寻衅滋事 by Shanghai Baoshan public security.
- February 18, 2024 — Case sent to the procuratorate; indictment content disclosed via 维权网: filmmaking characterized as fabricating and spreading false information disrupting public order; reposting remarks deemed insulting to national leaders.
- January 6, 2025 — Closed trial at Shanghai Baoshan District Court; 3.5-year sentence for 寻衅滋事罪. Reported term end: May 27, 2027. International coverage: RSF statement (Jan 2025), ICFR urgent case (Jan 6, 2025), FERA endorsement, CNN/China Digital Times, MCLC Resource Center, VOCO News (Chinese), BBC Chinese service.
- Ongoing — International screenings of the film by rights advocates; ICFR/FERA and RSF maintain calls for release. Amnesty International has run a letter-writing campaign in his support (per FERA).
Source provenance and grading
- RSF (Reporters Without Borders), January 2025 statement — primary advocacy source; confirms closed trial, sentence length, charge, age 33, detention month. High reliability on the verdict facts. URL: https://ikiepewlso.tudasnich.de/en/china-documentary-filmmaker-chen-pinlin-sentenced-three-and-half-years-covering-historic-protests
- ICFR (International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk), urgent case page — confirms Nov 2023 first arrest/questioning, Jan 6, 2025 closed-trial sentence, film titles in both languages, “Plato” pseudonym, YouTube/X distribution. URL: https://www.icfr.international/cases/free-chen-pinlin/
- FERA endorsement of ICFR call — secondary confirmation of the same core facts. URL: https://screendirectors.eu/fera-supports-icfrs-call-for-the-immediate-release-of-chinese-filmmaker-chen-pinlin/
- MCLC Resource Center (Ohio State), Jan 13, 2025 — summarizes China Digital Times/CNN reporting; carries the director’s translated release-post statement and the detail that Nov 26, 2022 was his first public political expression. URL: https://u.osu.edu/mclc/2025/01/13/filmmaker-sentenced-for-doc-on-white-paper-protests/
- VOCO News (Chinese), Jan 2025 — cites 维权网 disclosures: late-Nov 2023 arrest, Feb 18 indictment transfer, indictment content quote, sentence, term to 2027-05-27. URL: https://news.vocofm.com/chinanews/126446/
- YouTube documentary-description page — secondary/tertiary: 77-minute runtime, Nov 28, 2023 detention date, female friend bailed, channels deleted. Attribute as secondary; do not present as primary evidence. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrN4l45Vjl8
Conflicts, caveats, and limits
- The November 2023 detention date is reported as Nov 28 in some accounts and Nov 29 in others; both agree on “late November 2023.”
- Formal arrest is reported as January 5, 2024 (Baoshan PSB branch). One secondary account says “arrested January 5, 2024” for releasing the film; the formal-approval framing comes from the 维权网-derived timeline — attribute accordingly.
- The indictment-content quotation is the prosecution’s characterization as disclosed by 维权网, not an established fact.
- The female friend’s bail and the channel deletions rest on a single secondary description; attribute, do not assert as verified.
- Whether Chen appealed the sentence is unknown.
- The site’s own September 2026 roster baseline lists him as pretrial; every independent source records a January 2025 sentence. He is treated here as sentenced and incarcerated.
Companion biography and case history: Chen Pinlin (陈品霖) — White Paper Movement Documentary Filmmaker.