Wang Chao tells BuzzFeed News he thinks the U.S.’ Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision is why his film was approved for theaters despite having a gay romance.

Chinese Filmmaker Wang Chao just did something Ang Lee's Academy Awards-winning film Brokeback Mountain couldn't do 10 years ago – get official approval to show his gay romance film in Chinese theaters.

Courtesy of Wang Chao

Looking For Rohmer, or "Seek McCartney" as it's sometimes incorrectly called, is adapted from Wang's short novel telling "an emotional story about two men," the director's statement on the website of 2015 Shanghai International Film Festival says.

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It took a year for the film to pass China's strict censorship. But hearing the film survived with no edits being made, the well-known filmmaker immediately took to Sina Weibo and wrote, "a small step for censors, a big step for filmmakers."

Wang established himself in European film festivals, winning prizes including the Prix un Certain Regard at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival with Luxury Car.

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In an exclusive phone interview with BuzzFeed News, Wang revealed that he thought the turning point was when the U.S. Supreme Court approved same-sex marriage in June. "[It] has been having a tremendous impact on China," he said.

After the historic ruling, a couple of films involving gay plots have been shown in theaters, including The Dead End, a successful ongoing Chinese crime fiction movie, and The Imitation Game, which was shown in July.

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