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World Tibet Network News Sunday, July 12, 1998

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2. Hollywood hopes more movies will follow Clinton to China

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Monday, June 29, 1998

By Michael Fleeman
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES She's strong and resourceful enough to repel the ferocious Huns
and save China. But does Mulan have what it takes to invade China's movie
theaters?

China, one of the world's biggest potential movie markets, accepts only 10
American films a year, and Disney's animated feature, one of the most
China-friendly films out of Hollywood in years, isn't one of them yet.

"Embassy officials have looked at it, and it was a positive reaction," Disney
spokesman John Dreyer said. "So we are cautiously optimistic. This is a
decision the Chinese will have to make."

An official in the Chinese Cultural Office in Washington, D.C., confirmed
that a lot of people liked it, but he said he had not heard from Beijing as
to whether "Mulan" would be approved for distribution in China.

This marks a sharp change from 18 months ago, when Disney and China were
close to an international incident over "Kundun," a film about the Chinese
occupation of Tibet, with China threatening to rein in Disney's Chinese
business dealings.

As President Clinton visited China this past weekend, Hollywood had begun a
major push to persuade the country to accept more American movies, walking a
fine line between stroking the Chinese and making promises it can't keep
about U.S. film content.

With a population of 1.2 billion, China is considered among the last untapped
regions for the globally minded studios, which can derive about half their
movie revenue from the foreign market.

Clinton has assured industry lobbyists that he'll take up the matter in
meetings with Chinese officials. But it will be no easy task. The Chinese
screening process for movies is secretive and intertwined with politics. And,
as the "Kundun" episode and other flare-ups have shown, China continues to
bristle over U.S. films critical of its policies.

But the payoff is so potentially big that Hollywood can't stop methodically
trying to break through. "Titanic," one of the few American films to be shown
in China, has become a major hit, grossing $41.4 million through June, a
fortune considering the paucity and quality of China's theaters.

"I think a lot will depend on President Clinton's visit," said Hollywood's
top lobbyist, Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of
America. "He understands that I'm taking a go-slow method, willing to be
patient, and not saying 'Knock this wall down.'"

Valenti's travel schedule would suggest otherwise. He has visited China twice
in the past year and has another trip planned before the end of December.

Yet he says his talks with China's minister of culture and minister of film,
television and radio remain low-key, aimed at gradually increasing the number
of U.S. films over the next two years.

In exchange, Valenti pledged to try to distribute more Chinese films in the
United States, set up Chinese film festivals in this country, and provide
movie industry training to the Chinese.

"In general, we'd do all we can to promote indigenous Chinese films," he
said.

But Valenti's diplomacy is one thing, and the fickle tastes of American
audiences are another.

the biggest roadblock to expanding film trade with China has been Chinese
complaints about such U.S. films as last year's "Kundun," "Red Corner" and
"Seven Years in Tibet," all sharply critical of Chinese government policies
on human rights, artistic freedom and the Chinese presence in Tibet.

It didn't help Hollywood's case that Chinese President Jiang Zemin toured
Southern California last year just as billboards went up for Richard Gere's
"Red Corner," about an American businessman caught in China's legal system.
Part of the movie's set depicting Beijing back streets even remained in a
field below one of the offices Jiang visited.

And in April, the Chinese government sent a letter of protest to the
Washington International Film Festival demanding that it withdraw a
low-budget independent film, "Windhorse," about the resistance movement in
Tibet.

The movie, according to the letter from Li Gang, minister-counselor for
cultural affairs at the Chinese Embassy, depicted a "completely false" view
of Tibet and "its intention is obviously to smear China's policies toward
Tibet." Some scenes in the film were clandestinely shot on location with a
small camera.

The local film festival didn't pull the movie, made by Academy Award-winning
short-subject documentarian Paul Wagner, but the fallout from the protest
continues. At the time of the festival, Wagner didn't have a distributor
lined up, and now he fears that companies will bypass his film to avoid
offending the Chinese.

"It's having an effect on our ability to get the film out to the public, not
in China where we never thought it would be shown anyway except clandestinely
but around the world," said Wagner. "It's very frustrating."

Still, Wagner is hopeful that efforts like those by Clinton and Valenti will
succeed.

"I do think there's a (scenario) in which the economic freedoms can lead to
broader political freedoms for the Chinese people and people outside China
like myself," he said. "Maybe I'm naive. Maybe I'm too conservative for
certain parts of the pro-Tibet movement, but I think the situation can
improve. I think it's worth trying to approach it from the economic angle."

Away from movie distribution, Hollywood already has made inroads into China.

Sensing a slight thaw in its relations with the country, Disney recently
showed that it wants to further expand in China by creating an executive
position to coordinate all Chinese dealings. And Universal Studios has
announced plans for a large entertainment-retail complex in Beijing.

On a smaller scale, independent producers also are sensing opportunities in
China. American Peter Shiao mounted a joint production with the country to
make the romantic comedy "Restless," about young American and Chinese people
living and loving in China. The film was partly shot on location in Beijing.

The film is not overtly political and doesn't touch on the hot-button issues
of human rights and Tibet, but it doesn't shy away from difficult subjects,
including mixed ethnic dating. Unlike "Mulan," this film has already been
approved for distribution in China.

"The Chinese are open to issues of controversy," said Shiao, a former
political aide to Los Angeles and California lawmakers. "I'm happy to present
a more correct face of modern-day Chinese. It's not as sinister as people
would want to think. It's not perfect, but it's certainly not evil."

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Articles in this Issue:

1. Clinton China policy: Image is everything
2. Hollywood hopes more movies will follow Clinton to China

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