many attempts by the Government of China to have the film withdrawn from the festival. Chinese filmmakers withdrew their films from the festival two days before it opened on 24 July 2009. Former MIFF director Richard Moore refused to remove the film from the festival program, despite the hacking of the festival website and attempts to hack its online ticketing system from IP addresses of Chinese origin. Later, both pro-Chinese and pro-Uyghur activists attempted to disrupt ticketing due to the media coverage. The Chinese Government contacted Robert Doyle, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne asking him to intervene, but he refused. Australia's Ambassador to China Geoff Raby was summoned by China's Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun to express displeasure about Kadeer's attendance at MIFF. Victoria Police was placed on alert during the screening of the film and Pro-Uighur demonstrators also gathered outside the Melbourne Town Hall, and the Dalai Lama sent a message of support via Michael Danby, the MP for Melbourne Ports: See also Film festival List of film festivals List of short film festivals St Kilda Short Film Festival Cinema of Australia References External links Film festivals in Melbourne Film festivals established in 1951 1951 establishments in Australia