Actually, I think Kooky's finger-pointing in the direction of distribution interests is despairingly accurate.
In South Africa we have two distributors, Nu Metro and Ster Kinekor, whose distribution rights are practically constitutionally enshrined (okay, as far as I know there are statutory limitations on the establishment of additional distributors, but still, utterly fucked up). Ster Kinekor, the larger of the two, created some years ago what they call "Cinema Nouveau" - established experimentally to screen art-house fare that they felt would bomb on the "mainstream" circuit. And unfortunately it does appear that Cinema Nouveau is struggling to maintain its viability as an alternative to the mainstream cinemas. People equate "foreign" with "too cerebral, you have to read the film, and that's just boring as shit." Strangely, once you manage to pursuade someone to attend a Nouveau screening, they love it. And then subsequently seem to forget the cinematic-joy they experienced - almost certainly, I feel, the fault of Ster Kinekor and the direction of their advertising-interests. Case in point: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was screened by both distributors on the mainstream circuit, in a horrendously dubbed version, and at Cinema Nouveau, in a sub-titled version. It practically became a point of status to have watched the sub-titled version: "What!? You saw the dubbed version? Oh my god, why did you even bother!?" This by people who generally consider it a sign of cinema-adventurousness to watch something like Captain Corelli's Mandolin. But now, mere months later, and Cinema Nouveau, owing to poor support and low attendance, is understaffed, late night shows have been cancelled, and they're entertaining (hah!) the idea of "mainstreaming" the film selection - which basically entails showing english-language indie films while avoiding anything with sub-titles (although this hasn't quite materialised yet).
(Forgive me, I'm warming to a monstrous fucking rant...)
Now, Asoka is actually being screened by one of the Nouveau houses, and I intend to watch it, but it's particularly interesting because although Cape Town has a fairly significant Indian population, showing Bollywood films is a relatively recent phenomenon. And Asoka is being shown in a sub-titled version, obviously to accommodate the money-bearing, largely white, english-speaking mainstay of cinema support.
I'm fairly certain a Hindi-language cinema would be viable, but of course we're faced with the completely fucked up distributors, who exert a strangle-hold on the entire culture-industry. And no, I don't think that's an extreme thing to say. They determine which films can be shown anywhere in the country. Including which videos may be rented by video stores. There is one independent cinema in Cape Town - The Labia, fantastically brilliant - and it tries hard, but it's constrained in the range of their choice. The entire situation is ridiculous: should a video store suffer damage to a particular movie, and neither Nu Metro nor Ster Kinekor still include that film on their distribution lists, that video store is prohibited from re-purchasing a film they already stock. Witness my utter fucking rage at attempting unsuccessfully to re-watch Delicatessen, or Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are dead. Or others, ad nauseum. It's an enormous pain in the arse. I have a list of video stores I phone regularly, trying to locate copies of films that really shouldn't be that difficult to locate. I mean, they must've heard of Akira Kurosawa, right?
I may be straying slightly here, but to bring it back: there is definitely an interest in foreign language films. That interest is stifled by the distributors, who seem to have only a limited understanding of exactly what it is that people wish to see.
(This would be less of a problem if I didn't have to pay for everything from amazon.co.uk or blackstar.co.uk in pounds...) |
