| 1 | |
| 2 | == Empire Films == |
| 3 | |
| 4 | The Imperial Conference (1926) resolved to |
| 5 | reserve 7.5% of screen time in the British |
| 6 | Empire for films made within the Empire. This |
| 7 | measure was intended to privilege the British |
| 8 | film industry as opposed to the US industry in |
| 9 | the Indian market, helping to revitalise the |
| 10 | post-WW1 British cinema in the process. |
| 11 | However, although the idea was initially |
| 12 | welcomed by organisations like the Bombay |
| 13 | Cinema and Theatres Association and the |
| 14 | Indian Motion Picture Producers Association, |
| 15 | such organisations soon raised the demand, |
| 16 | that as the Empire’s main film industry, 50% of |
| 17 | the quota should be reserved for Indian |
| 18 | cinema. Whereas the first result of the |
| 19 | Conference was to limit Hollywood’s access to |
| 20 | the Indian market, the Indian demands |
| 21 | effectively ended up regulating British access |
| 22 | to the Indian market as well, favouring |
| 23 | indigenous production. In the context of the |
| 24 | Swadeshi polemic, the Indian Merchants |
| 25 | Chamber led by Seth Walchand Hirachand |
| 26 | argued that the only answer to combat |
| 27 | Hollywood (and, implicitly, Britain) in India |
| 28 | was a combination of tax incentives and the |
| 29 | tenfold escalation of customs duty on |
| 30 | imported films. Many of these debates |
| 31 | informed the Indian Cinematograph |
| 32 | Committee’s work (1928), published in 5 |
| 33 | volumes. |
| 34 | |
| 35 | [[Studios]] |