Cinema of Jimaria

Jimarian cinema consists of the film industry and it's film productions, whether made within the nation of Jimaria or by Jimarian production companies abroad. It is among the oldest in Western Alaxia.

Jimaria maintains a strong film industry, in part due to support from the Jimarian government, and from a relatively continuous prevalence versus the industries of other nations. Jimaria ranks among the top five largest exporters of films, after [Insert Other Countries Here].

Jimaria currently has the most successful film industry in Western Alaxia, with Ginsukyo following up in second place, and Azyeri-Bordo a distant third. Jimaria is also among few countries where domestic productions dominate cinemas over international releases. It is known for a strong focus of the authorial control of the director in the filmmaking process, which some have criticized as diminishing the collaborative nature of the medium.

Early Years (Ca. 24XX - 2461)
The first movie theaters in Jimaria were constructed shortly before the Great War, in an era still dominated by silent films. During this time, cinemas were filled overwhelmingly with foreign productions, as translations were cheap when required at all. It would not be until the dawn of talking films that domestic productions began in earnest. A few major studios rose to prominence, focusing on re-dubbing foreign films into Thraxian and/or Urbaxian, with only a few entirely domestic productions.

The New Wave (Ca. 2461 - 2475)
Starting in the 2460s, a wave of independent producer-directors would begin creating independent domestic Jimarian films, which began to see overseas recognition around the 2470s. Small budgets were favored, leading to big profits for many directors. The films of the time were primarily in Thraxian. The tail-end of the period would also see the founding of the first film schools, starting in Jara.

Early Period (2461 - 2469)
The Jimarian New Wave is largely considered to have begun in 2461, with the release of Ulrok Ilray's An Old Friend. Produced on a budget equivalent to approximately 300,000 Alaxian Krones, the film turned a massive profit on the domestic market, but had little international recognition at the time of release. This would essentially set the standard for the next eight years of Jimarian Cinema, with small budgets and domestic releases.

Later Period (2469 - 2475)
Ilray's seventh film, A Day at Work, released 2469, would mark a shift in Jimarian film; The first to receive a large international release, and the first to feature lines spoken in the Jimarian language. While only a moderate success commercially, critics around the world praised the film. Some commentators blame this for starting the air of superiority around many Jimarian directors, who viewed their own works as truer art than the more crowd pleasing commercial films of other countries. Other notable works of the period include 2472's Last Month in Hesirene, directed by Yarn Holek; and 2474's Redemption produced and directed by Ssalrak Kulraine, the first film to incorporate computer generated effects and the most expensive movie ever made at the time of its release.

(Ca. 2475 - 2481)
2473 saw the start of the first class of film students, bringing many new directors to the scene. The first of them to hit it big was Ulni Jark, who at 19 in 2475, managed to get his final project, a dystopian film entitled TNW-2574 (AKA The New World 2574) a small theatrical release, turning a profit. The film also marked the first of a new trend, being entirely in the Jimarian language.

During this period, budgets also began to increase, prompting many directors to begin signing deals with large studios to provide funding in exchange for a cut of the profits. However, several directors became dissatisfied as the studios sought changes and cuts to make the films more marketable, leading in 2478 to the creation of United Studios, a joint venture managed by Ulrok Ilray, Yarn Holek, and Ssalrak Kulraine.

An Old Friend (2461)
Tells the story of a man returning to his hometown after many years, only to find his old best friend has become a drunken wreck, struck in a loveless marriage and having an ongoing affair with the protagonist's ex-girlfriend. Noted for it's incredible acting and cinematography, small budget, and cast of only eleven actors, many of whom doubled as editors, writers, and other members of behind-the-scenes production. A large financial success in Jimaria, and credited with starting the Jimarian New Wave.

A Day at Work (2469)
Tells the story of an Urbaxian boy in Jara getting his first job. Ilray's highest budget work at the time of its release, opening with a trolley shot down a traffic jammed city-street which required the construction of a temporary elevated track between several of the city's buildings. The Film Tells the story of a young man just out of school getting a job at an office, and is the first film to feature several scenes spoken in Jimarian, between the protagonist and his roommate, a dwarf from Surajan. The final scene of the film features the protagonist receiving a promotion, moving up to the front desk in the space he's working in. A disgruntled man walks away from the desk with a box of his things, and mumbles "twenty years I sat there, and this is what I get." The protagonist sits down, and looks to the camera as the screen fades to black.

Performed very well domestically, while becoming a moderate financial and outstanding critical success overseas.

An Afternoon in Jara (2478)
Entitled ‘An Afternoon in Jara’. It is about a bank robbery turned hostage situation in Jara. The bank robbers are a gay couple along with their straight friend, and are robbing the bank to gain money to pay for another friend of their’s gender reassignment surgery. The film shows the perspectives of three groups: The bank robbers (and hostages), the Police outside, and the Media reporting on the event. The criminals are portrayed sympathetically, but in a sort of “right idea, wrong method” sort of way, whereas the police are portrayed as escalating the situation and the media portrayed as sensationalizing a very serious situation. At the end of the film, two of the three bank robbers are shot by police, the third is arrested, and the hostages are freed.

Most of the dialogue in the film is in Jimarian, but Ilray's struggle to get the film into theaters both domestically and internationally prompted him to found United Studios, alongside Yarn Holek and Ssalrak Kulraine.

Last Month in Hesirene (2472)
Tells the story of a murder trial, where the film is divided into four sections, each the testimony of a witness symbolic of some aspect of Jimarian society. The problem? The stories don’t line up, leaving it to the audience to untangle the truth for themselves.

The film is often compared to the work of Ilray, as they are similar in many ways; both were shot in Jara, both are commentaries on Jimarian life, and both use similar camera movements and techniques. However, they are also very distinct in other aspects, Holek using a much more vibrant pallet and much more rapid cuts, alongside a heavy use of framing to indicate meaning. The film performed decently well domestically and among the arthouse international market, but failed to capture general audiences abroad.

Love the Bomb (2477)
Tells the story of how a Ceironian Embargo escalates into total nuclear war when a Ceironian Airforce General orders a nuclear strike following the breakdown of negotiations. The film was originally intended to be a serious drama, but Holek ended up switching to a dark comedy early in pre-production as he researched nuclear policy and strategy. The film features numerous sexual innuendos and double entendres, and captures many scenes from low angles. The film ends with a montage of nuclear test footage, as the world is plunged back to the Stone Age.

For the film, names of real figures were replaced, for example “President Zong” and “Marshal Tassoff”, though combined with the film's concluding title card reading “any resemblance of characters in this film to real people is entirely coincidental… promise”, many have made the easy connections to real-world political figures.

The film was a success both domestically and internationally, with subtitles and foreign language dubs created for many other countries.

(OOC Note: The events of the film were based on a voided total nuclear war during XWR3)

Them (2483)
Tells the story of a ‘drifter’, who lost his home from the recession and wanders around cities doing construction and other hard labor while living out of homeless camps, until he discovers some magic glasses which let him see the world for what it is. Billboards reading only “BUY” or “CONSUME” and so forth, and alien lizard people who actually control society with the help of a select few humans. After fighting one of his friends to the ground and forcing the glasses onto his head, a scene often viewed as a metaphor about the challenges of education, they team up with a resistance to destroy the alien broadcast center which keeps their illusion up, awakening the world to the truth.

Despite of, or perhaps because of, it's strong anti-consumerist message, combined with it's low budget, the film turns a decent profit, all of which is donated to charity.

Redemption (2474)
Tells the story of a human who overdoses on painkillers, and his ensuing dream as he is nursed back to health in a hospital. In the dream, he goes on a quest across an almost surreal landscape of impossible cities, towering cliffs, seas of sand with waves and ships, and more besides. At the end, it is revealed all the characters he met in the dream were representations of people from his past, or just those he had seen, and it is implied he quits doing drugs.

The film uses almost entirely practical effects, primarily incorporating large fully built sets, miniatures, and forced perspective with green screens in the background, overlaid with basic computer-generated images depicting whatever far-off background would be needed for the given scene.

The most expensive movie ever made at the time of it's release, costing the wealthy Kulraine forty-five million out of his own pocket to produce. Between a domestic and international release, Kulraine was nonetheless able to manage a profit on the venture.

This is The End (2489, 2491)
Entitled “This Is The End” the film depicts the fictional story of a ten man squad of Jimarian soldiers violating the border zone occupation and heading into the Thraxian Mountains to hunt down a rogue Jimarian officer who appears to have deserted after the battle of Wijnsingen. After hitching a ride with some Horyuxian helicopter forces on a raid against Thraxian Partisans. This attack is shown in graphic detail.

After landing, they continue their journey on foot, across the plains before heading up the forested slopes of a mountain. Along their journey they encounter Thraxians and Horyuxians, get into a few firefights, and the squad is slowly picked off, though to the keen eyed viewer, the squad’s sergeant never actually fires his weapon. Only two remain when they finally reach the summit, the sergeant and the squad’s youngest member. The rogue officer has formed a sort of cult, and the Jimarians witness his followers performing an animal sacrifice. As night falls, the Sergeant goes into the Rogue Officer’s quarters, pitch black with only a faint candle, illuminating the Rogue Officer’s face. Both stare at each other in silence, before the Sergeant draws a knife, and lunges at the rogue officer, knocking over the candle and extinguishing it. The Sergeant emerges from the chambers, a bonfire is burning. He smears a bloody handprint over his face, finds his squadmate, all while the cultists kneel before him. As the Jimarians begin walking off, the camera pans up, and the credits roll and the titular song plays.

The film is famed both for its quality, and its troubled production, costing J$30 Million on what was supposed to be a J$10 Million budget, which (at the time) could have bankrupted United Studios if the film had been a flop. The Jimarian and Thraxian governments both also hindered the production, with the Jimarian government eventually mandating the film open with a title card reading “This film is based on fictional events and characters, and is for entertainment purposes only”, and negotiations with the Thraxian government to shoot on location proving difficult.

After sweeping the awards in 2489, United Studios released Kulraine's Director's cut, featuring 45 minutes of additional footage. Included are an elongated section in Jimaria and the Jimarian Occupied Border Zone (providing an excellent contrast between peace and war) and an additional encounter on the mountain, where a jet crashes and causes a fire among the trees. In addition, the disclaimer at the beginning has been removed, and replaced with one at the end of the credits reading “The characters of this film are fictional. The horrors of war are not." Negotiated by United Studio's Lawyers.

Live to Kill, Born to Die (2526)
Tells the story of a squad of soldiers from the 1st Airborne Division during the Siege of Makise. While the film features a number of action scene, it is truly a character piece, with a little under half the runtime involving the survivors of the squad holed up in a ruined building after their helicopter went down, trapped with some Ginsukyoan soldiers as the shells and bombs rain down around them, preventing an easy escape. An uneasy truce develops between the two sides as they remain stuck together for a few days, and they come to realize they had many things in common. The film serves to show the similarities between both sides, characterizing the entire conflict as really between government officials distant from the plights of those they claim to represent, and is very critical of some of the basic ideas of the military. The title refers to the words painted on the lead’s helmet, and some critics suggest it may be a commentary on the very concept of a career soldier.

Unlike it's spiritual predecessor, which was shot largely on location, this one is filmed on an elaborate sound stage, where a large set was built to scale and encased in a mix of LED screens and more traditional greenscreens to create the background detail, almost an enhanced version of matte painting techniques. This prevents some of the false feeling of pure greenscreen/CG sets, while enabling a far greater sense of scale than pure sound stages would give, and not requiring actual filming in bombed out ruins. However, this effect was not cheap, with the film costing over J$200,000,000 to make. It has a running time of 2 hours, 54 minutes, beating out even the director's cut of This is The End, with Kulraine claiming in an interview with JNTBS news to have a cut running around 5 hours.

TNW-2574 (2475)
A science fiction film about a post-apocalyptic dystopian government, lacks a conventional narrative structure and rather serves primarily focused on exploring the setting. Renowned for its editing and cinematography, despite its average acting and minimal dialogue. Screened initially at the University of Jara, after being voted the class's best film, the University negotiated with select theaters for the picture to receive a limited theatrical release, where it's praises continued.

Against the Dying of the Light (2481)
A Sci-Fi film about a planet in a solar system with 6 suns, in an orbit such that, at any given time, at least one sun is shining on all sides of the planet. Long believed to be the only planet in their solar system, scientists on the world discover that there is another, usually obscured from view, but which during a point of the year where the planet only has two suns in the sky, will eclipse one of them, giving the planet a night for the first time in thousands of years... exactly when an ancient prophecy said the world would end. The film ends with the sun setting, the eclipsed sun rising, and the protagonist staring into the night sky for the first time, seeing thousands of stars, and shooting himself in the head as reports on the radio come in of the collapse of the nations on the other side of the world.

Jark's first production out of film school, and one of United Studio's earliest productions. Considered generally to be the most thoughtful of his works, focusing on themes such as the unknown and the relationship between religion and science. Like many of his works, renowned for its worldbuilding.

Creation of International Copyright Law
In 2483, a Karkussian Widow made a near shot-for-shot remake of the film, without permission, the only substantive differences being a lower budget and the addition of a romantic subplot. Critics in Karkuss praised the film for it's originality and unique concept. United Studios sued the woman almost immediately, however, at the time, international copyright law was incredibly poorly defined. The ensuing controversy would lead seven months later to the 2483 International Concord Treaty on the Enforcement of International Intellectual Property Protection.

The drama of the events lead Jark to take a thirteen year break from filmmaking.

Jara 2600 (2496)
Tells the story of a robot uprising against mankind, or more specifically, the tail end of that conflict, where a detective is hunting down one of the last cells of remaining bots in Jara. Like most of Jark’s films, the sci-fi setting is a backdrop to the social commentary, in this case, about what it even means to be human.

The film is very psychological, and draws on noir elements from older films. The film was renowned for it's CGI, opening with a spaceship landing back in Jimaria. The Jara of the film is dominated by advertising, mega corporations, giant buildings, and other such things, which really set it apart from other popular science fiction.

Proved popular with both general audiences and critics, and turned a large profit for United Studios. A sequel would be released 24 years later, Jara 2689, featuring the son of 2600's protagonist tied up in a conspiracy with a new generation of robots.

The Majestics Trilogy (2503, 2504, 2508)
Adaptations of the Prodji comics characters, the three Majestics films tell the story of the superhero family, reimagined to take place in Jimaria instead of the HKA. The first film tells the origin of the family and their powers, and their triumph over a corrupt businessman. The sequel focuses in on the character of Glass, eldest child of the family, who has become a spy working in Erdelicht. When he finds himself outmatched by a team of six superpowered enemies, Glass calls his family for help, which ends up forcing his father to sacrifice himself to save millions. The final film in the trilogy centers on the character of Ruby, and features the return of the original film's villain, before his final defeat.

The trilogy was a financial and critical success, with the initial movie performing the best, despite some controversy around adaptational changes, it is fondly remembered by fans, though Jark himself has said he wished he included more of the social and political commentary which characterized his earlier projects.

The second proved controversial, with mixed reviews and criticisms for it's focus on only one of the four family members, and the film's use of real-world political events for the setting. It made less money than its predecessor in theaters, which some have speculated contributed to the mess of a production that was the third film in the series.

The conclusion of the trilogy was originally set to release in 2506, however, a series of rewrites and reshoots eventually lead to a two year delay. It received more positive reviews than the second, but only turned a small profit.

Pop Culture (2499)
Written non linearly, featuring a number of stories; a pair of bank robbers, some gangsters, a football player, and the gang boss’s daughter. While not the first non-linear movie ever released, it is one of the first to become really popular, and features a number of iconic lines and moments that make their way into the cultural consciousness of Jimaria.

Turned a big profit on a small budget for United Studios, beginning a long and shaky relationship between Tharn and the company.

Expedition: 2411 (2511)
Set during the Great War, the film tells the story of the early days of the Jimarian Expeditionary Force as part of the Fazarian Army. Specifically, it tells the story of a squad of Jimarian soldiers battling against Solanese troops in the summer of 2411, during some of the war's harshest fighting.

The film is more of a dark comedy than the dramas typical of war films, and manages to prove a respectable success among critics and at the box office. Tharn has said he wished the film received a Jimarian winter release, to coincide more closely with the 100th anniversary of the events which inspired the work, which took place in the Northern Hemisphere, but United Studios insisted on a summer release in January.

Hate (2509)
The film follows a trio of characters in mid-90s Cealisis, all lower-class people in their early 20s, a Nagani woman, a Human man from a Tushinmeroan immigrant family, and a Newel man; all friends of a man murdered in a police shooting. They explore the city together in the aftermath of a riot, hanging out in the poorer regions and inspecting some of the buildings damaged in the riot, before they’re reminded by an officer about trespassing laws, though he lets them off with just a warning. By nightfall, the three have reached a wealthier part of the city, sneaking into an art gallery and commenting on the pieces. Here it is revealed that, in the riot, the Tushinmeroan stole a gun from a riot policeman, and intends to shoot a cop in revenge, which the Newel man protests, saying that more death doesn’t accomplish anything. When the police are called on the trio over a misunderstanding with the Newel man, they have to make a run for it, trying to make it back home. Once they’ve lost the police, they find themselves in a back alley, encountering a gang of fascists. They get into a fist fight, and eventually the Tushinmeroan has one of the fascists at gunpoint. The Newel guy says to him, “Well? Are you going to do it or not? There’s good cops out there, but these guys? They’re all bad.” And the Tushinmeroan lowers the gun, he can’t kill someone. He vows to turn the weapon in the next morning, once the heat is off, and the trio make their way home. But as the trio walk away, we see the fascist pull out a cell phone and call the police. Just as they arrive home the next morning, the cop chasing them earlier catches up to them. The police shoot the Newel man instantly, and the Tushinmeroan returns fire. Hard cut to black.

The film does very well critically, many critics praising the nuance with which it handles a sensitive topic. As some critics point out though, it never really takes a stance on the core issue of Newel autonomy from the Federal Government, particularly in education.

The film was produced directly by Ssalrak Kulraine, who was so impressed with the brother's earlier work, he agreed to finance whatever they wanted to make next.