The List: Hollywood’s New Rivals

Somethings rotten: Zhang Ziyi leads a cast of royal plotters and schemers in Feng Xiaogangs epic, The Banquet.

China

Number of feature films in 2005: 260

Where theyre coming from: The art house and the martial arts studio. Early works by the so-called Fifth Generation of mainland Chinese directors, such as Red Sorghum and Farewell My Concubine, impressed critics by emphasizing technical virtuosity and Chinas rich cultural tradition. Tight state control gave them the run of the theaters, but drove wider audiences to pirated copies of Hollywood blockbusters and Hong Kong kung fu and crime thrillers.

Where theyre headed: To a theater near you. Breakout international hits such as Hero have disproved the belief that American audiences wouldnt watch subtitled films. Chinas Fifth Generation is fusing the visual grandeur of its style with action techniques developed in Hong Kong to create powerful epic films tinged with nationalist themes that reflect the countrys rising power. New directors, meanwhile, are busy chronicling Chinas turbulent social changes.

Movies to see: Still Life, examining the lives of the rural poor displaced by the Three Gorges Dam, surprised the film industry by beating out high-profile Hollywood fare to take top prize at the prestigious Venice Film Festival in 2006. More popular at home was The Banquet, a takeoff on Hamlet set in 10th-century China.

Russia’s Platoon: The Ninth Company examines what the last invasion of Afghanistan looked like to those who fought and died there. Russia

Number of feature films in 2005: 160

Where theyre coming from: Post-Communist dreck. Soviet film was heavily controlled by the state, but also heavily subsidized. Russian filmmakers proved unable to adjust to the new environment and competition from other media that followed the demise of official ideology. Audiences abandoned the theaters in droves.

Where theyre headed: Respectability. Enterprising producers and directors are finally joining the ranks of Russias formidable artistic and technical communities. Fantasies and historical dramas have made for the most popular flicks. Foreign films still draw 70 percent of the Russian audience, but the biggest hits have been domestic, and their share of the audience is growing.

Movies to see: Most popular so far has been Day Watch, a dark action flick steeped in the supernatural. Those looking for a tug on the heartstrings should check out The 9th Company, a portrayal of a Red Army units ordeals in Afghanistan.

Horror, Korean-style: A monster steals a little girl, but has to deal with her (strange) familys quest to get her back in The Host.

South Korea

Number of feature films in 2005: 82

Where theyre coming from: Protectionism. Censorship had stifled the industry until the mid-1990s. Afterwards, in an attempt to revive the industry, theaters were forced to reserve 40 percent of screens for domestic movies and the number of films allowed in was capped. Filmmakers jumped into the market with abandon. Korea is one of only a handful of countries where domestic films regularly trump imports at the box office.

Where theyre headed: Out into the world. Trade agreements are bringing import restrictions down. Though skeptical, the Korean film industry is holding its own and riding a wave of Korean cultural exports across Asia. Film exports in 2005 totaled $67 million, and though they dipped in 2006, the numbers had been growing steadily for years. The best Korean films are technically savvy and share a certain eccentricity.

Movies to see: Oldboy was the first Korean offering to get widespread international attention, taking the second-highest prize (the Grand Prix) at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. The movie is about as disturbing as they get, heavy on physical and psychological torture and incest. This past summer, The Host, a smart thriller, broke box office records in Korea and is due to open in American theaters March 9.

Trading places: Sure, the body-switching things been done before. But If I Were You might be the first time in Portuguese.

Brazil

Number of feature films in 2005: 90

Where theyre coming from: Industry infancy. In 1985 Brazils dictatorship collapsed; several years later the film industry did the same with the withdrawal of state support. Only now are producers beginning to compete with U.S. films, but foreign fare still draws almost 90 percent of attendees.

Where theyre headed: Its anyones guess. Incredibly diverse peoples and landscapes (and cheaper production costs) make Brazil an attractive place to film. A handful of Brazilian directors, notably City of God director Fernando Meirelles, have gained fame abroad and are beginning to draw major interest in their projects.

Movies to see: The big box office draw last year was a comedy, If I Were You, about a married couple who awake to discover theyve switched bodies. Critics preferred the more restrained House of Sand. The story, set in the isolated desert of northern Brazil, tracks several generations of women as their house is gradually swallowed by the desiccation around it.

Its a start: This collection of Nigerian trailers may not be technically savvy, but it could be a preview of something much bigger.

Nigeria

Number of feature films in 2005: 0

Where theyre coming from: The street. Despite having very few movie theaters, Nigeria has developed an incredibly vibrant direct-to-video movie industry. Tiny crews churn out low-budget morality tales and black-magic thrillers at a blinding pace; observers estimate as many as 600 feature-length titles debut each year. The producers sell their own copies in major cities, while pirated versions flood the countryside.

Where theyre headed: Onward and upward. The industry has been estimated to pull in over $100 million. Its better products are beginning to win attention at international film festivals, and popular titles are turning up in other countries in the region. As filmmakers improve their skills, a genuine African film industry might begin to take shape. Already, plans exist to build as many as 50 modern theaters.

Movies to see: Individuals films and filmmakers have yet to differentiate themselves, for the most part. Abeni, a middle-class romance, did garner some attention at the Toronto International Film Festival. But with so many titles turned out so quickly and cheaply, the genre as a whole is more interesting than any individual example.

Feature film numbers are courtesy of Screen Digest. Data for 2006 is not yet available.