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glen donnar

Politics comes before lights and camera - Opinion - theage.com.au - 0 views

  • THE Melbourne International Film Festival has it all: dramas involving officials from foreign governments, larger than life characters sticking to matters of principles whatever the consequences and the struggles for liberation.
  • documentary about Rebiya Kadeer
  • subsequently three Chinese films were withdrawn.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Loach's
  • The role of political actors, and the nation state in particular, in the film industry is enormous.
  • the film appears as the product of an individual visionary. This view of filmmaking is about as realistic as the standard Hollywood happy ending. The reality is that films are rarely, if ever, the personal, unadulterated vision of a director. They are influenced or, depending on your point of view, compromised from the start by those who bankroll the films.
  • In some respects, the most surprising thing about these kerfuffles is not that they have happened, but that they don't happen more often. While most of us think of film festivals as cultural events, the truth is that they are also deeply political events.
  • what gets far less attention is the extensive role played by political actors in the filmmaking process.
  • most films would not be made were it not for generous state subsidies.
  • And in spite of nice-sounding claims about facilitating cultural dialogue, nation states don't fund films because they love a good story. They do so because film can be a highly effective means of spreading influence. Since they're footing the bill, it's understandable that they want a say in the content of the film and how it is positioned.
  • films and film festivals are the continuation of politics by other means. It shouldn't be imagined that this applies only to authoritarian states such as China or political organisations with clear political objectives. Nearly every Australian film is made with some public money, and so filmmakers are subject to similar, if far more sophisticated and subtle, forms of state influence.
  • China has miscalculated the extent of its reach and, in the process, provided both the Kadeer documentary and the film festival an avalanche of publicity. And Ken Loach, in remarkably poor political judgment, has effectively silenced himself by withdrawing his film.
Rika Ninomiya

Taking a closer look at Indonesia | The Australian - 0 views

    • Rika Ninomiya
       
      Indonesian Film Festival in Melbourne starts on 11 August and will ends on 20 August 2009. For more information visit http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=97320061286&ref=search Some of the films are really interesting and worth watching :)
  • WHAT do most Australians know about Indonesian art? What role do the arts play in the picture they present of contemporary Indonesia? Not much, perhaps.
  • We heard from a young Indonesian filmmaker about thriving, youthful film communities across Indonesia and among Indonesian students in Melbourne; we shared some of the songs, stories and images collected by an Australian artist from northern Australian and eastern Indonesian communities once linked by ocean trade; we saw gigantic puppets created by young earthquake survivors near Yogyakarta, performing a zany new version of the Ramayana legend under the inspired leadership of Ian Pidd and the Snuff Puppet group.
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  • So why don’t Australians know more about Indonesian arts? Why don’t our arts and film festivals abound with Indonesian entries, and our television screens with Indonesian street murals and touring rock groups?
  • So what can be done? First, we need a big new initiative from the Australian Government that would attract attention in both countries. And perhaps we should establish one or more Australian-Indonesian cultural centres and arts spaces in Indonesian cities, to showcase existing arts exchanges and encourage others. Several European countries already maintain such centres: we’d need to do something distinctive and new.
  • Back in Australia, Indonesian arts aficionados could form a strategic network, sharing information about what’s on, lobbying festivals, arts promoters, the media and government bodies.
  • We can try to make sure that next time the rock band Dewa 19 visits, its songs about Islamic love and inclusiveness reach not only rapt Indonesian students and residents, but the thousands of Australians who need to hear the message.
  • Pressure should be put on SBS to show the film Opera Jawa, whose director, Garin Nugroho, has been described by Peter Sellars as a new Ingmar Bergman or Michelangelo Antonioni. We should also urge the big festivals to stage Je.jal.an (The Street ) by theatre group Garasi, in which violent, hilarious and moving interactions on a teeming city street graphically symbolise the confusion and creativity of contemporary Indonesia.
  • We need to keep spreading the word, while hopefully sustaining our spirits with more celebratory get-togethers in the same vein as Asialink’s Indonesia Calling.
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    Indonesian Film Festival in Melbourne starts on 11 August and will ends on 20 August 2009. For more information visit http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=97320061286&ref=search Some of the films are really interesting and worth watching :)
glen donnar

Chinese hack into film festival site - 0 views

  • CHINESE hackers have attacked the Melbourne International Film Festival website in an intensifying campaign against the screening of a documentary about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.
  • The hackers replaced festival information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans
  • "It is obviously a concerted campaign to get us because we've refused to comply with the Chinese Government's demands."
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  • Last week, three Chinese directors withdrew films, with two denying they were forced to do so by Chinese authorities. Director Tang Xiaobai, who withdrew her film Perfect Life after being phoned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said it was her decision to boycott the festival."I do not want to see my film screened on the same platform as a film about Kadeer," Tang told the official English-language newspaper China Daily.
anonymous

Pusan film festival kicks off today - 0 views

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    Asia's biggest film festival, The 14th Pusan International Film Festival kicks off today, with the screening of director Jang Jin's latest political comedy "Good Morning President" starring Jang Dong-gun as Korea's youngest president-elect.
glen donnar

Withdrawals lead to program rethink - Film - Entertainment - theage.com.au - 0 views

  • The screening of the documentary The 10 Conditions of Love, about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, has been the cause of controversy ever since the Chinese Government demanded that the film be withdrawn.
  • MIFF refused to withdraw The 10 Conditions of Love. In response, films from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were pulled from the festival, and the MIFF website was hacked.
  • including a short from leading director Jia Zhangke and a film produced by Wong Kar-wai’s Jet Tone company.
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  • The controversy brought a wave of local and international publicity. MIFF has been a fixture in the news pages and on the radio. The overseas coverage included mentions in The New Yorker, a live interview with CNN and coverage on the BBC. The attention, Mr Moore hopes, might have a flow-on effect, a reminder to people that this is an important festival. The festival had already become the subject of news stories when director Ken Loach withdrew his feature film, Looking for Eric, because of MIFF sponsorship by the Israeli Government.
Blaze Yau

Stirring tale of dancer who emerged from Mao's shadow - Film - Entertainment - 1 views

  • This image was imprinted in our minds
  • This was my bible
  • this was the book that my life should have been following. This man was our god who had saved us from hell! But when I went to America everything contained in this thing - the beliefs, the ideologies - all crumbled right in front of me. I realised I was really the victim of an incredible cultural brainwashing
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    A very good Australian film 'Mao's Last Dancer'. The main character(real one) is now living in Melbourne as a stockbroker. I think the film successfully highlights the contradiction between Communist China and America. Should go and see it.
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    have you seen it Blaze? Anna said it was brilliant.
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    Personally, i appreciate this movie so much. Mao's Last Dancer was opened on the same day in Melbourne as another movie called The Founding of A Republic. That was an obvious ideological confrontation. Though the two movies are telling story in the same country. Compared with the Singapore Girl TV Commercial, which was made by Asian for showing oriental spirit to the western in a western way, Mao's Last Dancer was made by Australia for showing their understanding of the age of ideological confrontation. I think for many western audience, there are a lot of languages and ideology during that special years could not be understood forever. But i appreciate the director and adaptor so much. Because sometimes we need others to help us grow.
shi chen

Epic film The Founding of a Republic marks 60 years of Chinese Communism - Telegraph - 1 views

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    Is it a propaganda or PR tool?
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    I think it can be said as a propaganda film because it draws a lot of Chinese to revisit the historical moment, then of cause, the stars in the film are doing a good job in drawing the audience in the first place lol~
xinning ji

Nova to screen Uighur film - Film - Entertainment - theage.com.au - 0 views

  • It would have been easy for us to err on the side of caution, but we felt it wouldn’t be fair to the filmmakers to rescind our offer
    • xinning ji
       
      based on my understanding, what Nova general manager trying to say is to give free speech and equality to every filmmaker, rather than take any political action against Chinese government. But it is hard to make sense because when the film is going to release to the public, it will influence on audiences, and change their behaviour and attitude. more seriously, it will lead to misunderstaning and grudge to people who do not really know or know little about China. It is hard to judge who is right or wrong, but hopefully, one day we can get mutual respect and understand among different cultures and religions.
Nadeem Uddin

Nigeria 'offended' by sci-fi film - 0 views

  • Nigeria's government is asking cinemas to stop showing a science fiction film, District Nine, that it says denigrates the country's image.
  • she had asked the makers of the film, Sony, for an apology.
  • the film portrays Nigerians as cannibals, criminals and prostitutes.
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  • a gang leader with the nickname of Obasanjo, also the surname of former Nigerian President
  • The name our former president was clearly spelt out as the head of the criminal gang and our ladies shown like prostitutes sleeping with extra-terrestrial beings.
  • Nigeria's Nollywood film industry was also being pressed to help portray Nigeria in a better light.
glen donnar

Chinese hackers circulate email on how to sabotage film website - Film - 0 views

  • Instructions educating Chinese citizens on how to sabotage the Melbourne International Film Festival are being circulated around the world, organisers say.
  • Six Chinese-language movies have also been pulled out of the festival, leaving organisers with a logistical headache and the fear that Chinese film-makers will boycott the festival in future.
  • Hackers replaced festival information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans soon after the launch of the 2009 festival.
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  • "It's a very, very concerted and pointed attack," Mr Moore said. "Everyone's watching this - it's totally global." The email provides instructions for loading tickets into "shopping carts" from the festival's website, and Chinese are being urged to teach others how to "purchase" MIFF tickets online.
Nadeem Uddin

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Slumdog child actors in new movie - 0 views

  • The child stars of the hit film Slumdog Millionaire are set to star in another film, possibly sharing a screen with British actor Anthony Hopkins.
  • "Lord Owen's Lady".
  • We have been given a new house and our condition is improving but Azhar's father did not live to see the good days,"
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  • The children and their families recently moved to new housing. The accommodation was arranged by the government and a trust formed by Slumdog's British director Danny Boyle.
  • I will do it if my parents ask me to do it. I had a good time acting in the previous film. I would like to act in this new film also
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    Bollywood meets Hollywood
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    he is a lucky slumdog child. I like that movie after I watched it. I found it is not easy to a person from a poor man to be rich. Also he has to make an hard effort to fulfil the dream. so best wishes to Azhar.
Rika Ninomiya

Keeping it real imaginative - Film - Entertainment - theage.com.au - 0 views

  • Pixar's creative head, John Lasseter, is one of Miyazaki's biggest fans.
  • In contrast to the way Lasseter has surged into the future with 3D computer-generated animation, Miyazaki has upheld the tradition of 2D hand-drawn animation. Now that Pixar is part of Disney, Lasseter has used his considerable clout to have the studio release an English-language version of Miyazaki's latest film, Ponyo,
  • The film uses the voices of stars including Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and Tina Fey, with Noah Cyrus - the younger sister of Miley Cyrus - as Ponyo, a cute goldfish that yearns to be human.
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    Studio Ghibli is the most successful anime production house in Japan. It's persona has captured not only Japanese but also people around the world, regardless of their age. This is one cultural product of Japan which is appreciated by many around the world.
glen donnar

China steps up film festival row - 0 views

  • A DIPLOMATIC row between Australia and China
  • with Australia’s ambassador called to a dressing-down by China’s Foreign Ministry.
  • Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun told Mr Raby that Australia must ‘‘immediately correct its wrongdoings’’ and cancel Ms Kadeer’s visa
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  • the documentary The 10 Conditions of Love, about Ms Kadeer
  • Ms Kadeer will take part in the screening of the documentary next Saturday.She will also meet members of Australia’s 2000-strong Uighur community.
  • Her involvement in the festival led to seven Chinese-language films — from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — being withdrawn.
  • ‘‘This latest attack is just extraordinary,’’ the festival director said. ‘‘What’s happened is that this has become a question of Chinese nationalism where it has almost become people’s official duty to register a protest.’’
Wye Keen Wong

Chinese film directors' withdrawal from Melbourne festival supported at home_English_Xi... - 0 views

  • Jia Zhangke and Zhao Liang, had withdrawn their films from the festival in protest at the inclusion of a documentary about Rebiya Kadeer, leader of the World Uygur Congress (WUC), which the Chinese believed to be behind the deadly July 5 riot in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
    • xinning ji
       
      It is the hot topic during these days, not only in Australia but also in China. This Xinhua News is governed by Chinese government. Basically, it serves for government.
    • Wye Keen Wong
       
      Article in today's AGE on apge 3 about Rebiya Kadeer who is in Melbourne to attend the film's opening
  • had attracted more than 4,000 comments. Almost all of the postings were in support of the two directors.
  • Only a couple said Jia was trying to earn publicity, but they were immediately criticized by others, defending Jia as a talented director who had always been low-key .
    • xinning ji
       
      It is a kind of strategy the press used in PR. It is trying to convince the publics what is the right decision Jia made. Also the word "only" it used is trying to say that nearly all Chinese support Jia, and no one has disagreed.
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  •    Jia said in a letter to festival organizers that the Urumqi riot had caused many deaths and many people believed the WUC headed by Rebiya Kadeer had unavoidable responsibility for the violence
    • xinning ji
       
      I would like to believe it is the truth. What Jia did was not imposed by the government, because I watched this riot on TV, and it made every Chinese upset and hurt. It was terrible to see the violence, in which innocent people were killed and beat on the street, many shops and restaurants were robbery, and cars were burned. What they did was not going in an appropriate way to ask the government for the independence. they really made social disorder and ruthless
  •  "However, the Melbourne film festival organizers have turned it into a political drama by inviting Rebiya Kadeer, a political liar," he said.
    • Wye Keen Wong
       
      Is a separation beween art and politics ever possible?
anonymous

Mini promo movies hit China - 0 views

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    Korea films, China hit, Korean Wave, Hanliu, Korean movies and dramas
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    Interesting promos, relating to this weeks reading 'Korean Media Flows', the spread of global consumerism and tourism.
Christoph Zed

Looking for the African Akira - 0 views

  • What better measure of society is there than through the fiction it creates? In 1988 the Japanese animation feature film AKIRA was released to the world envisioning the near future of a 2019 neo-Tokyo.
  • THE MATRIX in the U.S. would do for action and sci-fi movies, what AKIRA did for animation. The directors of THE MATRIX, the Wachowski brothers, cited one of their main influences and inspirations as AKIRA and that films director Katsuhiro Otomo
  • Fiction represents the ideas of a society that’s thinking as much about it’s future as it is it’s past and present. It represents as much about the hopes of that collective society and it’s factions as it does the fears. The concept of who and what heroes and villains are, protagonists and antagonists, are critical concepts for framing identity
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  • Most people would have you believe that fiction is the result of leisure, and that’s absolutely true. Without an abundance of time (and the worry of fulfilling primary needs like thirst and hunger) there simply is no opportunity to spend the day ‘thinking’ (or the ultimate of leisure activities: ‘thinking about other people’s thinking’)
  • the production of movies, books, comics, animation, TV and other form of media is all indicative of cultures that can produce more than just laborers and politicians. Africa is beginning to see a great shift towards people who pursue conceptual and intellectual careers, these people with both consume and create the next generation of Africa’s stories
  • there needs to be a creative revolution in the types of stories that are being told in Africa; how stories are distributed needs a revolution as much as the mediums that they are told with does.
shi chen

'Kung Fu Panda' Hits A Sore Spot in China - washingtonpost.com - 0 views

  • of an American animated movie that's set in ancient China
  • The blockbuster success
  • Some viewers have said the only reason China hasn't come out with something similar is a lack of money ("Kung Fu Panda" cost more than $130 million to make; Chinese-produced films tend to cost less than $1.5 million) or animation-technology know-how.
xuejiao lin

The changing web of Chinese nationalism - 1 views

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    Nowadays, Chinese people are enjoying greater freedom of speech and access to Internet. Both external environment and domestic development contribute to this. As in the new nationalism that forbidden by authorized government, the changing web of Chinese nationalism is such a powerful tool that inspires people to observe and thought independently. It also creates online nationalism, which could be considered as a growing potential turbulence.
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    I agree what you talked about the online nationalism of Chinese as a growing potential turbulence. In fact, there are a lot of cases showing the trend of the ' growing potentail turbulence'. The debate between Chinese governement and the Melbourne Film Festival on the documentary of Rebiya Kadeer (The 10 Conditions of Love) has led to breakdown of Film Festival's offical site. People believed that the site has hacked by Chinese hacker. I believe that the Chinese nationalism is obviously leading to an online nationalism which may impact on both positive and negative sides.
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