A little while ago, I mentioned about Shanghai’s independent film makers. While they represent the growing mass of the Independent Film Industry here in Shanghai, the majority were foreigners. I ran across an interesting article by Lisa Movius that details the efforts of Chinese Filmmakers.

There are more and more experimental films coming out of Shanghai these days. While in Beijing the trend for independent filmmaking is towards feature length and fully developed films, this is not so prevalent in Shanghai. The community in Beijing was brought up around the culture of entertainment, especially with Peking Opera and the like.

Back when Shanghai used to be second only to Hollywood in filmmaking, the world had it’s eyes on Shanghai to produce some amazing films. Produce it did, but after the Cultural Revolution, the entire Industry ran away to Hong Kong and Beijing. Beijing followed a cookie cutter type plan to churn out countless TV programs and films, while the remains of SMG produced a lot of politically motivated content.

These days, the viewers are driving the content to new levels. People are realizing they need to start making better content, especially to compete with the foreign content “leaking” into the country. Independent filmmakers are also taking this opportunity to show their skills, and that they can produce the same or better quality than the media giants.

You can see many examples of exploratory and art filmmaking throughout Shanghai, such as the current exhibition at the Museum of Comtemporary Art entitled Love@Fiction. There are plenty of videos you can watch that I think border on the insane. Strange videos of a woman wrapped in plastic wrap with a tinfoil hat, a computer generated image of a girl wearing an animal costume that performs a metamorphasis into another animal. It is just really weird stuff. 

Eventually we will start to see a great deal of “normal” type independent films coming out of Shanghai, along with the artistic type. It also seems investors are more willing to put their money into a Shanghai production because the filmmakers in Shanghai tend to be the serious ones, where in Beijing, filmmaking is done so rampantly, it’s hard to tell what is good and what isn’t.

Now, China’s forward thinkers have seen a real need. This need is that the people of Nairobi, capital of Kenya, are thirsting for the latest developments in China. I mean, of course, why not, if you are in a poor African country the first thing you want to know about is the valuation of the RMB.

Really, this is no joke, China Radio International has launched its first FM Service in Nairobi, Kenya. They say it is to “consolidate and strengthen the great friendship between the governments and people of China and Kenya”. Perhaps they mean “strengthen the influence of Chinese culture on the world?”

They describe the types of programs:

Programs will report China’s economic, social and cultural development, its friendly exchanges with African countries and major events around the world.

So the unfriendly exchanges will be conveniently missed out. Perhaps the Kenyans can learn from the Chinese how to manufacture goods at very low cost due to the cheap cost of labor and start to further sap the economies of world powers?

I have no idea what this is all about. If I really wanted to listen to Chinese news and music overseas, there are countless radio stations. If my country did not have the infrastructure for the Internet, or I was to poor to buy a computer, I don’t think finding out what’s going on in China would be anywhere near the top of my list.

Hey guys, here’s an idea. How about an all english radio channel in China? Apparently they think we don’t need any help with knwoing about China’s economic, social and cultural development. I am sure the Kenyans appreciate that.

For those of you who like the flavor of the San Francisco, the band is coming to town. Though, the trip was nearly cancelled due to salary issues. This was due to the fact that that orchestra members were earning a mere $112,320 a year. For this they went on strike. I suppose that being an orchestra member must be something like being a member of the cast of Friends. Under the proposed plan their salary would rise to about $130,000 a year.

So don’t miss them when they come to town, and you can even learn a thing or two by listening in on their classes at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. These classes are to commemorate the sisterhood of Shanghai and San Francisco. Really, they have been sister cities for 25 years now. How’d I miss that one? Being sister cities probably involves some sort of bonding thing such as teasing each other and blaming each other when something goes wrong.

Senator Feinstein (1979 mayor of San Francisco) had this to say:

“I established the Sister City relationship between San Francisco and Shanghai twenty-five years ago to promote goodwill and friendship between our two cities through a constructive series of economic, social, and educational exchanges. Twenty-five years later the relationship is intact and growing. For those of us who believe in ‘people’ diplomacy this relationship is a successful and glowing model.”

Goodwill- check. Friendship- check. Constructive relationship- Well, if you don’t count the countless San Francisco businesses going belly up, especially the garment industry, because of inexpensive and plentiful Chinese imports, sure everything is rosy. India is the reason for all the tech jobs going overseas, so that doesn’t count either. Anyhow, enjoy your “relationship”.

Shanghai wants to be the first city in Mainland China to have a major amusement park, such as Disneyland. This is of course a direct threat and competition to Hong Kong’s recently opened Disneyland. The proposed plan sees the new park opening in the Pudong area. Now it seems that Beijing want to muscle in on this opportunity and has announced plans of their own to build a Disneyland theme park by 2010.

Funny thing is that Disney admits to be in negotiations with Shanghai, but denies any such talks with Beijing. Beijing thinks by filing some official looking documents they can supersede Shanghai’s plans.

Beijing’s competitive Mayor, Wang Qishan, is believed to be behind the Disney bid, which was part of a blueprint for a new entertainment complex in the southern suburbs released on Sunday at the opening day of the city’s week-long Municipal People’s Congress.

According to the blueprint, written by the city’s development and reform commission, the 10 billion yuan ($A1.6 billion) complex in the Daxing district is to involve five to 10 leading entertainment companies, including Disney, and is one of six new “cultural” hubs to be created in Beijing in the next five years.

Sure, The Disney theme park was always part of it’s plans and had nothing to do with the fact that Shanghai was in active talks. Land in Pudong had already been earmarked for use in the Disney project. This Shanghai-Beijing rivalry is nothing new. It seems to be ingrained in both cities, such as noted in this article:

The duelling reports and behind-the-scenes rivalry they represent would mirror a similar clash earlier this decade between Beijing, which calls itself China’s cultural capital, and Shanghai, which wants to recapture its past glory when it was known to many as the Paris of the East.

In that battle, separate groups announced competing plans to build Universal Studios theme parks, one in Shanghai and another in Beijing, within months of each other.

The Universal Studios plans went mysteriously awry when Shanghai failed to obtain the “necessary permissions”. How convenient for Beijing. Come on Bejing, you already have the 2008 Olympics, don’t be greedy! I think you just need to let the best city win and not pull rank on Shanghai because you are the seat of the Government.

One way or another, Shanghai could really use a big theme park or amusement park. I think it is just what this city needs to round off its entertainment offerings. Though, it could be 2010 before we see any open around here.

For Shanghainese, many will spend the holiday glued to their TV sets. Is it some special event coverage or some hot new celebrity? Nope, it’s just they were too busy to get in some good quality watching before. A recent survey (another one of those mysterious governmental agency surveys) indicates that almost half of Shanghai residents will be doing just that this Chinese New Years.

Quote from Shanghai Daily:

The survey also found 45.6 percent of Shanghai residents will use the holiday mostly to watch TV series, for which they don’t often have time.

Seems the whole “family values” thing can wait until they finish watching yet another serial about some Chinese heroes in ancient China fighting some typical bad guys. To me it seems that about 50% of all Chinese TV shows are about this. I think I prefer my West Wing. Anyhow, happy Chinese New Year everyone!

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is commenting on “Memoirs of a Geisha”. While they still have not taken a stance on whether they will allow the movie or not, they claim it has passed their “inspection”. Confusing again.

It seems there has been a public outcry to SARFT to stop the movie from playing in China. An interesting point: “People have criticized Zhang Ziyi for taking the role of a Japanese prostitute.”

Probably meaning playing a Japanese role is bad, but being a prostitute is OK. Watch her in her next movie, “Memoirs of a Pink Saloon Girl”.

Meanwhile, more considerations mount:

According to the Shanghai Youth Daily, the largest obstacle to the movie’s release in China is that the government is afraid that the film content may outrage the audience.

Here is my advice: If you are outraged by the film content, don’t watch the movie. You don’t see Christian Nuns going to see Scream, now do you? Be smart enough to know what you want to watch boys and girls.

Though, all this deliberation is moot. The movie has already been made and shown in theaters around the world. Those who wanted to see it in China have already bought the DVD which was avaliable in early January. Those who oppose the film won’t watch it anyways, so what’s the big deal? All these people should do something more productive with their time, like make more good movies we can all enjoy!

You can’t keep up with the entertainment industry in China and miss “Dashan” (大山). Almost a household name since the late 1980’s he is the epitome of a foreigner gaining fame in China. It seems he is more popular in China than Brad Pitt is in the US.

His exploits are mostly limited to Beijing, but that does not stop his fame from reaching all across China. As most foreign guys can probably attest to, we have all been compared to Dashan at one point or another while in China. Mostly along the lines of: “He doesn’t speak Chinese as well as Dashan!”

In 1988, the man who would become “Dashan” (literal translation - “big mountain”) was living in a foreign student dorm at Beijing University when he was first invited before the cameras to cohost a major student talent show. Legend has it that it was only when strangers greeted him in the street the next day that he realised it had gone out live - in fact 550 million people had been watching nationwide, and Rowswell had just become the first foreign host of a major event in Chinese television history.

Back in the US or Canada, there is probably no chance of someone like Mark Roswell gaining the fame he has in China. His main draw is the fact that he speaks perfect Chinese. In fact, better than many locals! I don’t want to bring in what this says about the locals, but this opinion is theirs, not mine! In short this means that while he is “world famous” in China, this does not really transfer past it’s borders. Don’t expect Mark Roswell to be a name you see on any US produced TV shows or movies anytime soon.

The article goes on to explain well the mass of the TV industry in China:

China boasts the largest TV audience in the world, thanks in part to a communist infrastructure that saw TV as a means of direct communication with a vast population. Today, state broadcaster CCTV claims an audience of more than 1 billion; content comes courtesy of some 200 stations, offering viewers a total of 2,900 channels.

And as the Chinese economy whips itself into ever better shape, TV is becoming increasingly commercial, says Chris Gelken, a UK journalist who has recently completed a three-year stint in the country as news anchor with English-language station CCTV9. “Competition for advertising dollars is driving a fierce ratings war,” he says, referring to an industry reportedly already worth $3.4bn a year.

As a result, where once the programming agenda was dictated by an ever-shifting party line, these days programme makers are far more attuned to ratings - and consequently, sandwiched between imperialist-baiting war movies and old-school news reports from the factory floor, glossy melodramas now document the movements of the new urban middle class, playing out their lives over branded cups of Nescafé.

I am not sure where these 2900 channels are, but I certainly get no more than about 40 on my Chinese cable service! Perhaps they mean through illegal satellite channels? It is interesting to note how the shift is occurring now from a governmentally dictated lineup to more ratings oriented content, as the stations battle for advertising dollars. This is a step in the right direction away from tight government regulation and towards freedom for producers.

Yes, Shanghai now has the first test network of FTTH. No, it does not stand for Fantastic Television Treats for Home, but in fact for Fiber-to-the-Home. It is used to provide services such as HDTV, VoIP, Broadband Internet and networked computer games. I am not sure what this means in terms of IPTV and how the two will co-exist.

Another government group - The Ministry of Information Industry (MII, pronounced “Mission Impossible 1“) - has projected the amount of FTTH consumers will break 20 million by 2008. They have said that the test network has been set up in a “Residential area” of Shanghai, so that really narrows it down. Well, I can at least tell you it is not in my area.

This whole thing brings to mind the old concept of the Integrated Services Digital Network that tried to accomplish exactly the same thing as FTTH is doing today. Really, it was the same thing, but they seemed to be about 25 years too early. ISDN was first introduced in the early 1980’s, and was not widely accepted until the early 90’s, but never really got off the ground. It seems that having all your services on one line was a ridiculous proposition, mostly due to poor adpotion and high cost.

Nowadays, computers and connections are so inexpensive; it seems about time for something like this to come forward. It’s about time we had phone sex, internet porn and the Playboy channel on the same line!