L~ J - University of Albertavruetalo/Sarli-Bo Research/PelMex/WV-03-21-1984-62.pdfJaime Humberto...
Transcript of L~ J - University of Albertavruetalo/Sarli-Bo Research/PelMex/WV-03-21-1984-62.pdfJaime Humberto...
L A T I N A M E R I C A - F I L M S PfiRlErr Wednesday, March 21,1984
Pristine La Paz Belies Instability Of Bolivia's Musical Chair Politics
La Paz, March 20. For many people, Bolivia is little
more than a small , obscure, unstable South American country subjected to a military coup every couple of weeks, and a chaotic economic situation. However, visiting La Paz for the first time is an eye-opener.
Set in a deep valley surrounded by snowy mountains, the Bolivian capital is an unforgettable sight for those flying over it. La Paz airport, "El Alto," is probably the world's highest, 13,000 feet, prompting many visitors to scramble for oxygen masks even before leaving the plane. The city itself lies 1,000 feet below; the 30-minute drive to it takes one past Indian villages, such as those most of the population lives in. Ethnically, Bolivia is composed of 55% Indians (mostly Quechuas and Aimaras ) , 15% of European origin and 30% mestizos. Only 33% of the Bolivian population (around 5,500,000) lives in urban areas .
Sparkling Capital, People Yet La Paz (pop. 1,000,000) is one
of the cleanest, most organized and enjoyable cities in Latin America. Its denizens seem to be eternally friendly and helpful; the cr ime ra t e is among the lowest on the Continent; whether walking around the impeccably clean Indian craft markets, or through a fancy restaurant , one is struck by the city's exotic appeal.
Political life, admittedly, is more troubled than in many neighboring countries. Eight or nine military coups were effected over the last 20 years. In 1964, legitimate president Paz Estensoro was ousted by a military t r iumvirate; next came General Rene Barrientos, killed in a helicopter crash and substituted, by Luis Siles Salinas. Salinas was overthrown by Alfredo Ovando Candia, who in turn was overthrown by Juan Jose Torres, himself overthrown by Hugo Banzer, who was overthrown by Juan Pereda Asbun, overthrown four months la ter by David Padilla Arancibia, who called for general elections.
Constant Coups No candidate managed to get a
majority, so congress appointed Walter Guevara Arze as chief of the nation. His government lasted four months and was overthrown by Alberto Natush Busch, who resigned after 15 days. Congress appointed Lidia Gueller, who was overthrown in a few weeks by General Garcia Meza. Elections were held, but elected president Hernan Silles Zuazo was not allowed to take over.
General Meza, accused of dope smuggling was overthrown by Colonel Natush Busch and General Lucio Rivera . General Celso Torrelio was then named president, but was forced to resign in favor of General Guido Calderone. In October 1982, General Calderone resigned and Congress ratified the people's choice of 1980, bringing democratically-elected President Hernan Siles Zuazo back to office, where he remains.
200 Releases If such political juggling sounds
like a B-film, films themselves a re among the preferences of Bolivians living in cities like La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra (pop. 500,-, 000), Cochabama (300,000), Oruro and Sucre. Cinemas in Bolivia a re estimated to number 150 to 160, 35 of them in La Paz , 80 in Santa Cruz, 25 in Cochabama.
Almost 200 features are released
each year in the country, by Disas (Columbia, Fox, WB, Disney), Pel-Mex/UIP, and the independents, lead by Pelinter (run by Arturo Castanera) , America Films (run by Peruvian Mauricio Ubillus and Cas tanera ' s son, Arturo) and Distribuidora La Paz (run by Roberto Alconcer). Last year, Disas released 50 films, Pel-Mex 36, UIP 20, Pel inter 30, America 30, and La Paz 9. The remaining were distributed by smaller indies.
Mexico's Top Pics In 1984 To Date
Mexico City, March 20. Sylvester Stallone's "Staying
Alive," starring John Travolta, is so far Mexico's top-grossing pic for 1984, according to figures released in March by the Camera Nacional de la Industria Cinematografica. Here are the top-10 grossing films:
Boxoffice figures from Nov. 3, 1983-Jan. 18,1984, report that Para-mount 's "Staying Alive" earned 81,560,540 pesos.
In second place was British animated pic "Dark Crystal," by J im Henson and Frank Oz, which garnered 55,553,585 pesos.
In third place is the rerelease of last year ' s Mexican comedy "El Analfabeto" (The Illiterate), distributed by Columbia Pictures and starring Mario Moreno ("Cantin-flas' ') with 50,395,615 pesos. John Badham's "WarGames," starring Matthew Broderick, came in next with 30,309,130 pesos. Number five is Walt Disney's animated feature "Robin Hood," which hit the screens again in December and has made 28,162,530 pesos.
Sixth was "Young Doctors,In Love" from Garry Marshall , which earned 25,585,470 pesos. Seventh was Fernando Ayala's Mexican film "Abierto Dia y Noche," starring Jorge Rivero, with 22,994,-135 pesos.
The new version of "The Lone Ranger ," by William Frater , took eighth place with 20,716,895 pesos. Rerelease of Brian De P a l m a ' s " C a r r i e " came in ninth with 18,-671,375 pesos. Rounding out top 10 was rere lease of "La Cage aux Fol les ," which earned 16,891,835 pesos.
L Uptick In Biz 3 (Continued from page 52), gator ," produced by Zeus Films, banner run by Olga Lucia Gaviria.
One of Sztaba 's long-standing clients is Colombian producer-director Gustavo Nieto Roa, who is doing final printing here on his high-budgeted (for Colombia) "Ca in , " due to preem in Bogota April 10, and financed by government organization Focine.
Outfit's topper pointed out that he was saving filmmakers coin by showing how to use time-code conversion sys tems when editing in filmvideo, since many of the films are shot on celluloid and completed in video. Process eliminates hours of optical work, since editing is done electronically.
c P.R. Theaters (Continued from page 56).
"Firefox," etc., all of them available on cassette before their commercial release, affects the film biz adversely.
Majors and other distribs a re trying to release new pics as soon
as possible after their U.S. preems, to reduce pirates' profits. The clubs buy the tapes legally in the U.S. and then rent them out in Puerto Rico at $2 a shot.
Compounding the woes last September was a new Commonwealth law cracking down on sex films and nixing entry to anyone under 16. Distribs feel that the law is ambiguous in its definition of "sex" and have appealed the legislation. In the fall, 18 agents were sent to, among other sites, the Plaza Theater where R-rated "Chained Heat" was playing, and hauled out two minors.
The clamping down has prompted most hardcore houses to close down. Wometco's Peter Moreno averred that "Emmanuelle In Amer ica" was shown in a censored version and Wometco was hauled into court. "The problem," said Moreno, "is the interpretation the law is given. The law does away with parental discretion. It 's bad for biz."
L~ Chile Uses TV J (Continued from page 58) tising time on the network.
The private sector feels this arrangement gives Chile Fi lms an unfair competitive edge as a distributor and exhibitor; this may be true, but the constant advertising of pics on tv has again given them a long lost status a s a major consumer product, and this has certainly been a decisive element in stimulating filmgoing in general.
During 1983 Chile Films rented Del Villar's Chilena de Espectacu-los circuit and brought its total up to 11 cinemas, with Conate and CCN, the other circuits , running seven houses each. Socine has six, mostly secondrun.
23% Inflation Higher costs due to inflation
(23.1% last year ) have not been passed on to consumers, as this would certainly drive them away from the c inemas . Admissions vary considerably and a re on an average $2 at uptown houses and $1.65 downtown, where there a re also two to three days a week at reduced prices.
Fi lms like "Rocky ," "F i r s t Blood" and the Adriano Celentano pics from Italy have had very strong secondruns, part ly due to cheap ($1 or 90$) admissions and also thanks to strong advertising support on tv.
U.S. films distributed by the majors a re reaching Chile promptly; this year 's Oscar nominees, for example, a r e already in the country and about to open. On the other hand, European pics, especially quality product, get here much later, if at all, and it is largely a matter of luck if they are picked up by local indies. The profitable runs , last year of "Mephis to ," Margare the Von Trot ta ' s "German Sis ters" and Carlos Saura 's "Blood Wedding" may make this kind of material more attractive in the future.
Upcoming In Brazil Screenplays current ly in de
velopment in Brazil (credits for production a l ready approved by Embrafilme) include:
"Sonho de Valsa," Ana Carolina. "Vida Mansa," Joaquim Pedro de Andrade.
"Ciranda Bar roca , " Geraldo Santos Pereira.
"As 7 Vampiras," Ivan Cardoso. "Bras Cubas," Julio Bressane. "A Incansavel Busca do Amor,"
Haroldo Marinho Barbosa. "Mart inho Contra Dr. Kap , "
Helvecio Ratton. "Noite ," Jose Louzeiro. "Alice," Alberto Salva.
Mexico's Cinema 'Crisis' • (Continued from page 54).
periods for Mexican films was under former President Luis Ech-everia (1970-76), directed by the president 's brother, former actor Rodolfo Echever ia . Under the auspices of the newly-formed Banco Cinematografico, it attempted to revitalize the flagging industry by opening up the unions and admitting many young, imaginative f i lmmakers. Arturo Ripstein, Ja ime Humberto Hermosillo, Paul Leduc, Jorge Fons, Alberto Isaac, Marcela Fernandez Violante, Gon-zalo Martinez, Gabriel Retes and Felipe Casals.
In order to correct mistakes of the past, many of the national cinema chains were nationalized at this time and organized under the COTS A (Compania de Operadores de Teatros, S.A.) and several organizations were established by the government to produce films, notably Conacine and Conacite. National films were once again being made and widely exhibited.
In 1975, the state produced more films than the pr ivate sector. Many established f i lmmakers were suddenly out of the business as the focus shifted to helping young contemporary filmmakers, especially those who had studied abroad.
Portillo Emphasized TV But, national cinema fell once
again during the last administration under the haphazard patronage of Margar i ta Lopez Portillo, sister of former President Jose Lopez Portillo. She was appointed director of the newly-created R.T.C. (Radio, Television y Cine-magrafia) , which brought together the entire state-controlled mass communication system in Mexico under one governing body.
Most of her efforts were dedicated to the tv industry and the production of soap operas, and the film industry suffered e r ra t ic production and distribution as government funds dried up.
Many good directors — because of the difficulty of finding work — turned to tv or made commercially successful, albeit aesthetically poor films.
The pr iva te producer ' s role came to the forefront once again and was responsible for the bulk of films produced during this t ime, which consisted mainly of sexual comedies about prostitutes.
A New Low Tomas Perez Turrent and Gil
lian Turner took official Mexican cinema to task at the time saying it "has not reached such a low level in several decades. Cheap cinema, with no artistic or cultural ambitions, a repetition of the oldest and weariest formulas, subpornogra-phy, facile folklore, routine melodramas, films aimed a t manipulating and exploiting the emotions and frustrations of the lower strata of the population and the nostalgia of Mexican and those of Mexican descent in the U.S. ... The resulting cinema is industrially feeble, socially useless, culturally nil and aesthetically impoverished."
The movement known as "Cine Independente" also surged during this period, mostly former students of the CUEC (Centro Univer-sitario de Estudios Cinematografi-cos) and CCC (Centro de Capacit-icion Cinematografica).
Since the young f i lmmakers were unable to find funding, they used non-union crews and produced their own films. Although they often employed valid and interesting themes and approaches, the films suffered technically. And they- films were prohibited from
commercial distribution because of union regulations.
"Another large problem at the moment , " said Alvaro Cordon, director of Peliculas Nacionales, "is to raise the number of screen hours for Mexican films. The law s ta tes that 50% of screen t ime must go to national productions. Yet, foreign pics dominate the cinema ads in local newspapers.
Need Distribution Many Mexican pics never re
ceive regular distribution in the capital, even though Cordon notes that nationally-produced pictures get back roughly 25% of their investment from the exhibition within the Federal District alone. Most films distributed by Peliculas Nacionales are first distributed to test marke t s in other a r ea s of the republic.
"Cinema production in Mexico will inevitably disappear because of the bankruptcy of the produce r s , " said filmmaker Rene Cardo-na Jr . , who made low-budget films such as "Survivors" and "Guyana, The Cult Of The D a m n e d " that have been successful in the U.S. "No one has yet to realize the true dimensions of this phenomena. To make a picture today costs around 40,000,000 pesos, and to exhibit it another 50,000,000.
The production company Pro-ducciones Agrasanchez announced in February it will only make eight pictures in 1984, six less than last year . Company head David Agrasanchez places the blame on rising costs, noting that prices have gone up 30% just between December and January .
Coprod Push With the current economic cri
sis, Alberto Isaac, general director of the Mexican Cinematographic Institute, foresees the future of Mexican cinema through the pursuit of coproductions.
In 1983, Conacine and Conacite 2 produced only four pics "The state will never again play the major role in national film production," Isaac said. "We will only try to fill in holes left by the private sector, which should be the main force of the industry.
"The state is responsible for only about 10% of the national films currently showing in Mexico, and besides, it is absurd for the state to indulge in large-scale productions."
This year the institute is producing only seven films of which the majority a re coproductions.
"But, the real problem," said assistant producer Therese Margolis, "is that we have to recognize our limitations and potentials as filmmakers . We must also recognize that values of those limitations.
"Mexico is trying to compete against the U.S. film production when we don't have the capabilities either financially or technically. Instead we should see that we a r e producing for an audience that 's either Mexican or Latin American and we should direct our products toward them. Our mass audience can ' t afford or even relate to the high-budget, glossy, slick, esoteric productions of the U.S.
"As long as we continue to perceive ourselves in competition with the world's best film industry, we will never recapture the glory and respect of Mexico's Golden Age of Cinema." '
Christine Ebersol and George Wendt costar in "Thief Of Hearts," which Douglas Day Stewart is currently directing for Pa ramoun t Picures.