Cinema of the Pakifas
The Pakifas relies almost exclusively on the video sector for the release of local films. Despite there being four movie theatres, there is a slight dominance of Flarlandian, Sierran and Sondrian movies on the local theatres. Many say that the golden age of Pakifan cinema is over, but the direct-to-video industry is attemptedly making its attempts at creating a new golden age. However, terrible plot lines and poor special effects (particularly in action movies) make these films hated among some Pakifans yet loved by people from mainland Flarland.
History[edit | edit source]
The Pakifan film industry was founded in 1928 by Michael Price of the nascent Cinema Service, who provided the first experiments of the cinematograph to the Pakifas through experiences gathered in Hindolania and Northulia. Pakifan Cinema Service was founded and it initially sold approved copies of silent films - when the industry was already knowing how to master the so-called "talkies".
In August 1929, the first Pakifan film, Chronicles of Colonization, was released as a silent film, and was later shipped to Flarland to raise awareness of the existence of the Pakifas. It wasn't until 1932 that Pakifan Cinema Service, with the aid of Northulian employees, released the first non-factual film, a comedy film called Troubled Education, starring relative unknowns who later fell into total stardom. It was also the first spoken film in Pakifan history. These actors were largely descendants of colonists like Charles Taera, who had little to no experience in the industry, and began to master it upon the knowledge of techniques from abroad and "the mainland". However during the period that followed the brief Oriencian invasion of the Pakifas that lasted less than a week, the industry was at a standstill and Pakifan Cinema Service was nearly bankrupt. The issue was reverted in 1943 when Taera became the company's president, and his plans were to turn the company into a film school, with Taera acting as a teacher and all actors and filmmakers being his students. For a short while, PCS productions became "student assignments" and films would not exceed the length of half an hour. In 1945, this scheme was averted due to the surrender of Orience having an impact on Sondrian affairs.
The Pakifan Film Company was set up in 1946 as a competitor to PCS. Half of Taera's "students" moved to the new company and Taera considered comitting suicide, but his family was against the decision. As the post-1943 PCS crisis had left Taera in an state of uncertainty, it was not certain that the industry as a whole was not going to continue. Nonetheless, Pakifan Cinema Service continued in the field for a few more years.
The Pakifan Film Company managed to make successful films quicker than PCS, to an extent that Taera got sick of the situation and decided to shut PCS in 1954, downgrading it to a Pakifan export division of the Flarlandian company, yet the entire filmography would become a part of the public domain, like many early works from its mainland parent. Charles Taera decided to retire. PFC, using the talents that were formerly part of Taera's company, was the only production company in the island, and produced about four to five films a year - a feat given its population (about 160,000 according to the 1956 census) and limited budget. As the years went on, PFC decided to produce more titles in Pakifan, owing to the success of Makae Ra, a Pakifan-language radio program on Voice of Pakifas, which was the main source of entertainment during the early ages of Pakifan cinema.
The film industry managed to escape the introduction of television - a limited fraction of the population in the capital owned a television set - and the VOP television service was seeming to favor English rather than Pakifan. As a countermeasure, PFC was forced to divide film production by releasing equal amounts of films in English and Pakifan (two or three per language; this makes up to four or six per year). The main stars were John Marie, Eramela Rangarao, Elezabeth Oilumesarao, Priscilla Jonton, Mark Wadi and Hararango Hanamoro. Their descendants are currently either Pakifans or Pakifan Flarlandians who are still intimate with the film and television industry. Most stars of the 60s were young (either in their twenties or thirties) and were able to speak fluent Pakifan. By this point, the Pakifan film industry entered its golden age, as new Pakifan films were getting more viewership rather than the foreign ones, and this allowed PFC to increase its budget and scope of actors, aollowing it to film abroad and spread the Pakifan industry worldwide. 1968 saw the premiere of the super-production known as Taoro, based on ancient Pakifan legends. Until the 2001 remake, Taoro was the highest-grossing Pakifan theatrical film and most expensive production.
By the 80s, however, the film industry was feeling "ill", according to experts. Television had already caught on cinema in terms of popularity and the studio was losing money and had to reduce the amount of films made. About 250 films existed in its catalog at the time and the video renting sector was the new way for people to watch movies, thus leading to a decline of theatres due to the fact that they were now largely attended by the rich. New filmmakers emerged and brome the PFC monopoly even though their film experience was little to none. Descendants of the actors of the Golden Age went on to join these new filmmakers and create new companies releasing direct-to-video productions at a lower price.
By the mid-90s, almost every film made in the Pakifas targeted the direct-to-video services through specialized movie shops and released in VHS and VCD formats. At this stage, the Pakifan Film Company was reconsidering shutting down, but intentions were now made towards a new production of Taoro, with assistance from Cinema Service.
