Following last year’s entertaining attempt to hold a festival without screening any films and a conference without any attendees, the Beijing Film Festival and Market (BJIFF) returns with vigour, promising $5 billion worth of deal announcements – just as the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) announces an investigation into Hollywood studios paying bribes to facilitate deals in China.
Last year’s policy of holding closed panel sessions, where the panellists got to sit in a room and have a natter by themselves, has been abandoned in favour of parading international industry heavyweights in front of media and audiences … and hoping like hell they would be desperate enough to do business on the mainland not be critical.
