Kalistani Major History

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Kalistani Film Industry takes off4697 proves to be big year for Kalistani Cinema
Sulari, Suldanor
February 1 4698


Dr. Tennyson Lee, Kalistani Education and Cultural Minister sits on a panel of Judges for 4th annual Yoshimi Pop Film Fest in December

Kalistan is awash in cinema.  Long known for its vast contributions to popular and alternative music, Kalistan has, in the last 7 years exploded with film makers, production companies, and new advances in film technique.  Along with the major annual Kalistan Film Festival which has run in the Capital since 4691, and features both international and domestic entries, Kalistan also has developed a thriving festival circuit for specifically local film.

Kalistani cinema runs the entire range of genre:  dark horror, thrilling suspense, and explosive action films are all well liked by mass audiences.  But Kalistani film also features alternative cinema as well.

"Romantic Comedies are a treat, but few take them very seriously," said Minister of Education and Culture Dr. Tennyson Lee, who has served in the position since 4693.  "I mean, they talk about things that everyone goes through, love, loss of love, the stupidity and the heartbreak around love.  But there hasn't been serious investment in rom-com development as a genre.  I think every director who wants to gain prestige will focus on deeply human stories."

Last fall, the winner of the Yoshimi Film Fest, which is one of the final stops on the Film circuit before the main event in Kaliburg, was a dark narrative drama about a working man, who discovered that something was amiss at his factory, and had an ethical quandary surrounding the discovery.  Simply called "Grit", the film details the true story of Everet Cornell, who, in 4631, discovered that his former employer "Liberty Plastics" was dumping horribly toxic waste into the Lucid River.  He first told his wife, who urged him to stay quiet about the discovery.  "How bad could it be?" she pleaded with him, but ultimately her pleas boiled down to a very simple argument:  "You tell them about this, Everet, and they will kill you.  Those vultures can get away with anything in this nation...  They kill you, and what do I do?  What does your 2 year old do? We starve to death.  I-- we  can't afford to lose you, not to this...  Just turn away from this, Everet.  We love you." 


"Grit" star Henry Fredricksen, as Everet Cornell, who was murdered in 4633 when he revealed pollution and corruption at the infamous Liberty Plastics in Suldanor

Cornell tried to just ignore it, but ultimately, appealed to the Liberal Government for help in 4632, who essentially informed Liberty Plastics, at the time major campaign contributors, that Cornell had the very damaging information.  Cornell was found face down on the shores of the Lucid River about five miles from his home, with his face partially disfigured by acid.  The epilogue of the film shows how Cornell's widow fell on hard times, but launched a campaign to make her husband's fate a national cause that led to a scandal for the Liberal Government.  Cornell's daughter, who never knew her father, went on to serve as a Deputy from Yoshimi 60 years later when the SP returned to national politics, herself a staunch supporter of environmental regulation.

The film "Grit" and other realistic dramas like this have come to be some of he most important films in Kalistan.  Critics often praise the character development, and focus on the depth of human emotion and the variation of experiences depicted in Kalistan.  Noted Film reviewer Morris Thomasson stated, "Kalistani films are dominated by realistic depictions of three-dimensional characters.  We do have our stoner flicks, of course.  But consumers seem to gravitate more toward those which show characters that have real depth, and either make a difference, or lose in the end.  Kalistanis love those who win by losing, and are vindicated by history."

One of the greatest contributions to world cinema from Kalistan has been the ubiquitous "concert movie".  Kalistan, which leads the music world, has, over the last decade, perfected the art of the concert movie, which often follows a band out on tour, and intersperses clips of their tour documentary with live concert footage that gives movie-goers at least some of the experience of being in attendance at the original show.  Concert movies have developed an entire culture around them:  Due to logistics issues, concert movies usually had midnight showings, rather than showings during the afternoons and evenings.  "We couldn't get movie houses to play concert movies during the day," said Dan Herbert of the band "Funk Empire".  "They said it cut into their profits, so it was like a compromise to get them to keep open their doors at night and show our movies."

But movie houses discovered that the extra revenue from concessions more than compensated for the wages paid to skeleton staff and cleaning crews. "Most of these people would come in stoned, and would buy mountains of popcorn," said Thomasson. "Concert Movies were wild events, but they soon gained a reputation for being this place where whole parties would move to from the bar or wherever they started.  Soon movie houses began demanding them, and they just developed into this thing over the last ten years.  Now, if its Friday night and you aren't watching a concert movie in a midnight showing at a movie house, you just ain't with it."


Terrence Owens, Guitarist for the rock band "Condor", in the 4696 concert movie "The Owner of A MoCo"

The demand generated an industry in "concert movies", and a formula developed.  "Leave it to the auteurs to screw with the formula!" declared Thomasson.  It wasn't long before directors got into the game, and the quality of the rockumentaries dramatically increased, as rock musicians were often cast into acting roles within the movie.  Full Rock operas followed, and then movies about concert movies, and then entirely fictional concert movies which covered concerts that never happened.  "It really did take on a life of its own as a genre.  It is the first genuinely Kalistani genre."  From there, concert movies made it into the festival circuit, and began to receive critical acclaim, usually in the technical categories.

Kalistani cinema is alive and well, as Kalistan gears up for the final stop on the 4697 Circuit.  The Kalistani Film Festival will feature six entries from Kalistan, including the raw story of a surfer who overcomes the odds, and a crippling disease, to win a major competition in Suldanor, and for the first time ever, a Rockumentary about a Vrassan band who hopes to revive the "Szarybeat" sound.  Four foreign entries in the Main stage come from foreign nations, including the first ever Dolgovan entry called "Vlad's Mother", and a comic farce of a production, which puts a new spin on the hilarious classic play "Ode to the Walrus", from Trigunia.  4697 has been a triumphant season in Kalistani cinema, and the awards shows should be very exciting.