More Hollywoodization

"Understandable.  France is not only anti-Hollywood.  It's anti-american and anti-british in general.  It seems to be a history-based nationalist angst against english-speaking countries with a national memory of a terrible war with the americans in the 1700s.  Latest evidence - their strong resistance against the US/Brit led coalition against Iraq at the UN."

Terrific cinema, innit?  Terrific culture too...

"I think the Hongkong and Chinese cinemas benefitted form Hollowwod incursion when the latter exploited their martial arts traditions to box-office delight, there, in the US and elsewhere.  It's sheer commercialization of a culture.  But i suppose chinese talents, producers and crew got windfalls in the process too.  Did the phenomenon produce art films?  Now i don't know if suspending actors on wires flying around in a fight scene is one."

See something by King Hu. Blows Crouching Tiger up and down the block.

"The same goes for Japanese films.  Hollywood exploited japanese traditions of the ninjas and samurais and the jap military-like discipline  to make box office hits worldwide.  And while hollywood profited, am sure those jap movie moguls did as well."

True and true. But that was then, this is now. At that time, the foreign market wasn't seen as a major source of income, and Hollywood marketing wasn't geared towards selling to foreign markets. It was easier for foreign cinemas to flourish.

In the '80s, Hollywood discovered the world market, and now more than half their market is outside of the US.  Hollywood NOW is a threat to our industry, and to industries all over the world.  That's what happened to Hong Kong, and Japan. Hollywood killed their live action cinema.  This happened around ten or less years ago.

"At this time and age, to me it doesn't seem to make sense to close doors and act as if we can make a viable cinema industry on our own with only the pinoy market as our audience."

By all means, watch other movies from other countries. But in a strictly ghettoized environment. And by all means sell to other countries.  We can be open to foreign markets--Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, for starters. the rest of Asia to follow; that's how the Hong Kong cinema did it in the '80s. Hollywood?  They were never interested in us, and we don't need them to sell our movies. They can knock on our doors if ever they want us, which I doubt will happen.

"The audience must be the entire world."

Hollwyood can stay out of the equation.  They're the danger. Art  house cinema circuit--we can actually talk to them, if you like.
 
"The product must be world-class."

No problem with this.

"That's why hollywood and a few european, indian, chinese and jap films became known worlwide and their industry got the windfall because they were shown in many countries and made good box-office returns."

True, and here's the difference: Hollywood is doing it NOW, and to the detriment of every other foreign film--and, in the case of Hong Kong and Japan, to the detriment of THEIR native cinemas.

"Otherwise, if we remain content with the pinoy audience in this country"

I'm not content with just the local audience.  There's the film festival circuit the US art house circuit (mind you, this mainly books US independent films), and the world cinema arthouse circuit.

"we will remain with low budget films of little remark.  The returns simply cannot justify a producer's nvestment."

Bubungang Lata, Pila Balde, even Insiang.

"But closing our doors with trade barriers to hollywood films, frankly i have grave doubts such an act willl even gash the knee of hollywwod, much less cut the legs below."

It won't--see above. I'm concerned with saving our cinema, not hurting Hollywood.  I'd like to do that, but that's not possible. Yet.

" And doing so will only incurr the ire of the IMF/World Bank"

Not on cinema! That's a small fry industry. I've dealt with IMF and World Bank people.  They're concerned with steel, infrastructure, agriculture. They don't even know movies exist in other countries.

"And one result is that our films would get the same treatment in the world markets and not be given a fighting chance out there"

The way India and France are doing it?  IMF and World Bank don't think that way.

"I don't see how our cinema can flourish when the country's economy is ruined."

Because we discriminate against Hollywood films?  Not going to happen--like I said, movies are strictly small fry. Again, see France, India, Iran.  They seem to be doing just fine.