Updated: 2005-06-10
Amid Chinese success at Cannes and box offices around the world, the mainland's only international film festival opens on Saturday in Shanghai. For the next nine days, the Eighth Shanghai International Film Festival will act as a bridge between China's and overseas film industries.

The film festival creates a virtual platform for film-makers from all over the world, and in turn, improves the level of film production quality in Shanghai and China, said Ren Zhonglun, president of the Shanghai Film Group.

The festival will bring to the forefront a number of issues facing the industry, with piracy high on the list.

Last week, the Shanghai government kicked off a high-profile campaign to crack down on pirated DVDs, shutting down stores and chasing off street vendors.

"Cracking down on pirate DVDs is our job and duty," Lan Yiming, deputy head of Shanghai's culture inspection bureau told Associated Press.

"We want to create a good cultural environment for the international film festival and give guests from home and abroad a good impression," he said.

In a widely reported example of how efficient the piracy rings are, copies of the latest instalment of the Star Wars saga, Revenge of the Sith were available less than three days after its theatrical release.

As authorities and industry players try to find solutions to the piracy problem, filmmakers continue to produce work that is catching the attention of the world.

"There's been a string of very successful films out of China that have crossed over both regionally and in the US, such as Hero, Kung Fu Hustle and (House of) Flying Daggers," said Dede Nickerson Huang, a consultant for Miramax working on co-productions and acquisitions in Asia.

"Certainly the major companies Newsgroup, TimeWarner, the parent companies, are saying to their studios 'Let's get into the business here."

Last year, Warner Bros became the first foreign company to set up a joint filmmaking venture on the mainland. Other companies want to follow suit.

Like the industry, the Shanghai festival is looking to become a major international player,and given China's potential might, the goal is reachable.

South Korea's Pusan International Film Festival, which Time Magazine called the top film festival in Asia, is one example.

"Pusan was nothing five or six years ago, and now is certainly the most highly regarded festival in the region.

The growth was simply due to financial support.

"You know, the kind of support the Olympics gets," Huang said. "They've been making steps in terms of progress, but if they want a leap, they need more support," he said.

One industry observer in London who has attended almost every international film festival in decades, said big names are the bellwether of a festival's influence.

"Festivals typically primarily benefit the local host country only," said David Blake, of A&C Associates in London.

They hold no interest to the American majors until the festival becomes a useful tool in promoting their big budget films.

A-list actors attract worldwide press, like the over 7,000 journalists that make the annual trip to Cannes.

If the superstars did not come, then this figure would drop significantly.

In a sign of the Shanghai festival's growing clout, industry movers expected to make an appearance are stars like Jackie Chan and Morgan Freeman and top industry execs like Miramax co-chair Harvey Weinstein.

The push to step up to the world stage means commercial interests cannot be avoided.

"You're not talking about the China market alone, so your product must be competitive," said Woody Tsung, of the Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association.

The festival's Jin Jue competition is developing a reputation for its consideration of commercial value, underlined by the fact that no Chinese films made the cut this year.