Even Pirates Love a Film Festival.
Long-time residents of Shanghai know that – every June – the city’s multitude of pirate DVD shops close in advance of, and during, the Shanghai International Film Festival (five years I’ve been here, five years the shops have been shut down). That way, all of those foreign filmmakers and executives won’t see the thriving fake sector at work. And, probably more important: local officials and festival organizers won’t have to answer any embarrassing questions about the DVD shops ordinarily open just around the corner from screening sites.
Which makes me wonder: why, Saturday night, could people could be found browsing for pirate DVDs in shops just a few minutes walk from the red carpet opening at the Grand Theatre?
It’s all the more curious that those shops remained open this year, an Olympic year, during which China is enforcing and respect all of those laws that it spent the last twenty years winking away. In fact, two days before the Festival opening, Beijing announced that it was commencing a drive to crack down on those who dare to infringe on Olympic IP (and don’t even think about wishing “great success” to the Olympics at a commercial event without permission). Surely, Shanghai’s pirate DVD shops would be easy collateral in this drive?
Hardly. In fact, not only are they open, but one of the biggest (it shares a name with a US chain of video stores) managed to take out an advertisement – which included a map – in the Shanghai International Film Festival supplement published by state-owned China Daily. So much for the underground economy.
What’s it all mean? Beats me. But perhaps – as has been, ahem, rumored – visiting Hollywood studio execs like shopping at pirate DVD stores, too? Or perhaps there’s just more pirate money to be made – and spread around – than anybody guessed.
6 comments »
Copy link for RSS feed for comments on this post or for TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
I was wondering about that too. Last week I stocked up on DVDs because I was expecting the shops to shut for the festival.
Comment by Kev — June 16, 2008 @ 11:35 am
The simple explanation might be that everyone woke up and realized that it was really obvious and stupid to shut them down and they weren’t fooling anybody anyway. Just as well to let business continue.
Comment by J — June 16, 2008 @ 6:15 pm
I was at the new “emporium” on Jianguo this evening and I overheard some Hollywood types buying copies. They are as bad as we are, maybe worse.
Comment by J — June 16, 2008 @ 9:50 pm
Probably not something you yourself are seeking, but have you seen sex & the city for sale up there? Here everyone tells me they don’t know what the hold-up is in getting it in stock. It isn’t available, they tell me. Which is odd, of course, because I think we have all marveled at the lightning speed of other releases.
Comment by ambrose — June 16, 2008 @ 10:15 pm
Nope. But I did finally fine “Once in a Lifetime” – a documentary about the New York Cosmos and the rise and fall of the NASL that’d been released months ago. But that probably has to do with Euro 2008. Weird, though, that somebody hasn’t gotten S&S out, especially considering its massive Chinese fan base.
Comment by Adam — June 16, 2008 @ 10:37 pm
[...] the film fest, Shanghai’s pirate DVD shops normally shut down, though this year it looks like there are still some intrepid entrepreneurs out [...]
Pingback by China Journal : Best of the China Blogs: June 17 — June 17, 2008 @ 11:58 am