Shanghai fest accents optimism

City drawing filmmakers like Wong, Law

By PATRICK FRATER

SHANGHAI -- Wong Kar-wai may have abandoned plans to shoot a re-do of "The Lady From Shanghai," but the city is increasingly a draw for filmmakers. The iconic Hong Kong-based Wong has instead set his eye on a moody TV series in the city that was the birthplace of Chinese cinema and is today China's business hub. Other overseas Chinese are coming here, too. Australia's Clara Law last week said she would shoot her next pic in Shanghai, having mentally twinned it with New York.

The city gives filmmakers a frisson in a way that last week's Shanghai Film Festival did not. In its 11th edition this year, the fest has polished up its presentation skills, but still manages some misfires.

The choice of a sports documentary as the surprise opening film sent guests scurrying out of the Grand Theater to the city's rightly famous restaurants.

But guest relations, documentation and tech presentation of seminars were improved.

The competition selection, however, is not worthy of an A-list festival, as Sundance's Geoff Gilmore notably pointed out last year. Choice of politically worthy films over quality movies or experimentation narrows the field terribly, and means top Chinese helmers would rather bow their films elsewhere.

The film market, too, was a sad place, where sellers, mostly pumping Chinese locations or facilities rather than movie rights, appeared to outnumber buyers. Mercifully, it was over in three days.

Most striking during the fest was the sense of optimism. Han Sanping, the ebullient China Film Group boss, told a seminar that Chinese cinema is open for business and that investors can expect "amazing returns." Jiang Ping a senior official from the powerful industry regulator insisted that "international co-productions are important for bringing Chinese culture to the world."

Fear of making a political misstep in this sensitive year when all eyes are on China has reportedly caused the Film Bureau to all but halt greenlighting new scripts or giving approval to finished movies. As was to be expected of someone from his position, Jiang played down such reports.

Curiously, the heads of several Hong Kong film groups were not in Shanghai but had been called to Beijing for a few days of bureaucratic meetings. Some Hong Kongers, including Ng See-yuen and Bill Kong, however were on hand to tout China's fast improving facilities and production skills.

At the second edition of Pitch and Catch, a Variety-sponsored series of project presentations, a generation of young filmmakers appeared to be focused on finding alternatives to China's current staple of big-budget costume dramas that increasingly look identical and feature the same stars.

Some pitches were all too obvious retreads, or riffs on last year's low-budget hit "Crazy Stone," but others demonstrated a can-do spirit, like the duo who unveiled a horseback period actioner set in the high deserts that they said they could make for less than $1 million. "We know how to make films, but we don't know how much they are worth (in the marketplace)," said one young producer.

Another producer spoke of Film Bureau problems over smoking scenes in a movie that had lensed and was submitted for approval. The producer was not deterred. "We'll just have to be a little bit more careful with how and when we send in our next one," he said.

China now has a handful of companies, such as Huayi, the Bona Group and Shanghai Media Group, with good skills and growing international experience, but it has few independent producers. That may change quickly, as much that was underground is now working more openly.

China's big cities may already look like Manhattan, but the country is scarcely out of its Wild East phase and has plenty of room for expansion.