Movies from an Independent Confederacy

As for the CSA not having the technology to create a great film industry, the British could probably build some and smuggle it in for them.
 
I think some posts here are leaning a bit too hard on the slavery angle; it would probably be omnipresent, but as like a background cultural assumption rather than the central point of every movie. There would be movies about romance, war, tragedy, history, crime, comedy, and so on.
 
also I think any movies from the confederacy would not be popular outside the csa, so probably any confederate movies instead be made for confederate audiences.
 
also I think any movies from the confederacy would not be popular outside the csa, so probably any confederate movies instead be made for confederate audiences.
To be fair that applies to most national film industries outside a cultural hegemon like the United States though, and then cases like Hong Kong.
 
there were some alternate films and television mentioned in C.S.A.: Confederate States of America which could give an angle on it. one was essentially just a war film like just about any other of the period but with a Confederate slant in the vein of "the whole world is our God-given right! we just haven't claimed it all yet!". remember that this particular Confederate Victory TL had slavery not only persisting, but expanding, and was deliberately written as a dystopia.
 
You should expect the following characteristics in a film industry that exists in a surviving Confederacy.

1. - The Films made will be subject to real stringent set of regulations set by the National and State level governments (Who will also approve all films to be shown in the confederacy).
2. - The studio facilities would be found in Florida while the Corporate headquarters of those Major Film Studios are based in Atlanta or Nashville.
3. - Any movies that are Confederate made will not be popular outside the Confederacy in fact they will likely be banned in many countries (Even the possession of any copies of such films) and numerous Theaters will outright refuse to distribute them.
4. - The Union will be depicted as evil in all Confederate made films that feature the Union (The opposite will occur in all films made by Non-Confederate studios and producers).
5. - Confederate made films will depict Blacks as a inferior group and derogatory terms will be used to describe them (This will unfortunately be the case as well regarding Homosexuals, Transgenders, Bi-Racial individuals, Non Christians and anyone who is Not White).
6. - The National and State governments in the Confederacy will also require approval of even the Film Trailers and Commercials to be broadcast on Radio and Television in the Confederacy which likely consists of a National Broadcaster and State Broadcaster (Each State government will operate one) for public broadcasting the rest taken up by licensed broadcasters.
7. - Any British involvement would likely consist of training of Film production techniques and use of the Film Cameras and related equipment.
8. - All Cameras and related equipment used in Film production will likely be subjected to stringent (National and State Level) licensing and registration mainly to prevent showing a side of the Confederacy they don't want the world to see (The plight of Non Whites) and to prevent Pornography from being produced.

Don't expect a excessive slavery angle since slavery will likely be phased out (Or in the process of being phased out) when a Confederate film industry is created.
 

Czar Kaizer

Banned
As mentioned by a few others the best comparison would be the South African film industry. As weird as it sounds pre apartheid films were more racist than films made during apartheid.
One of the earliest South African films I was taught about was something I think was called Slave of the Malays which is sort of reminiscent of Birth of a Nation, about a young English woman who is tricked into coming into Cape Town and kidnapped by a Malay played in blackface but rescused by some handsome Englishman and a boy scout
But as sound became part of film it became a more sophisticated medium so blatantly racist stuff would be seen as quite lowbrow. No Apartheid made film I've seen has ever been explicitly racist, in fact one thing that you will notice is that most of these films have no black people in them, so race is conveniently glossed over.
I imagine it would be the same in the CSA, films aimed at whites would only have white characters or at least black characters wouldn't have any speaking roles. You would probably also see a black film industry develop for black audiences which is not to dissimilar to what happened in the US in OTL. So there would be a segregated film industry. But obviously films produced in the US would dominate the CSA, I think the more interesting thing to talk about is how US film makers would localize their films for the CSA. Obviously films that have characters of different races interacting would not be acceptable in the CSA so there will be a large degree of censorship. Perhaps you will have special edits of some films specifically for the CSA market? The CSA will probably have a censorship board similar to Apartheid South Africa which would determine what can and can't be shown.
 
As mentioned by a few others the best comparison would be the South African film industry. As weird as it sounds pre apartheid films were more racist than films made during apartheid.
One of the earliest South African films I was taught about was something I think was called Slave of the Malays which is sort of reminiscent of Birth of a Nation, about a young English woman who is tricked into coming into Cape Town and kidnapped by a Malay played in blackface but rescused by some handsome Englishman and a boy scout
But as sound became part of film it became a more sophisticated medium so blatantly racist stuff would be seen as quite lowbrow. No Apartheid made film I've seen has ever been explicitly racist, in fact one thing that you will notice is that most of these films have no black people in them, so race is conveniently glossed over.
I imagine it would be the same in the CSA, films aimed at whites would only have white characters or at least black characters wouldn't have any speaking roles. You would probably also see a black film industry develop for black audiences which is not to dissimilar to what happened in the US in OTL. So there would be a segregated film industry. But obviously films produced in the US would dominate the CSA, I think the more interesting thing to talk about is how US film makers would localize their films for the CSA. Obviously films that have characters of different races interacting would not be acceptable in the CSA so there will be a large degree of censorship. Perhaps you will have special edits of some films specifically for the CSA market? The CSA will probably have a censorship board similar to Apartheid South Africa which would determine what can and can't be shown.

The stringent set of regulations that I had mentioned in my previous thread would actually make censorship boards at both the National and State level a requirement. Any films that do cater to Blacks in the Confederacy will be subjected to regulation (To prevent any films that advocate or incite and uprising or rebellion from being shown). The issue that Film Makers outside the Confederacy would run into would be is it even worth showing films in the Confederacy (Having to deal with the Regulations and the Censorship Boards before a film can be shown in the Confederacy).
 

Czar Kaizer

Banned
The stringent set of regulations that I had mentioned in my previous thread would actually make censorship boards at both the National and State level a requirement. Any films that do cater to Blacks in the Confederacy will be subjected to regulation (To prevent any films that advocate or incite and uprising or rebellion from being shown). The issue that Film Makers outside the Confederacy would run into would be is it even worth showing films in the Confederacy (Having to deal with the Regulations and the Censorship Boards before a film can be shown in the Confederacy).
There would still be demand for American produced films within the Confederacy, I suppose depending on race relations in the Union you may see some studios being unwilling to sell their films to the CSA but that would just leave a large untapped English speaking market for a more opportunistic studio to come in and American film studios don't seem to take too much issue with censorship of their films in other countries in OTL. It will definitely be an issue assuming that the CSA remains a racist hell hole in the long run and you will see more actors and film makers boycotting films that are shown in the Confederacy.
 

Czar Kaizer

Banned
Slightly off topic but I wonder wonder how TV would develop in the CSA? Would they adopt a BBC style model of a state TV network? Or could they go the South African route and completely ban television until the 70's because of it's ability to corrupt morality audience's? I could imagine them going the South African route and outright ban TV.
 
Slightly off topic but I wonder wonder how TV would develop in the CSA? Would they adopt a BBC style model of a state TV network? Or could they go the South African route and completely ban television until the 70's because of it's ability to corrupt morality audience's? I could imagine them going the South African route and outright ban TV.

The South African route would likely end up impossible once the Television Stations start up in the U.S. (Union) it would be impossible for the Confederacy to enforce any outright ban as Televisions (Even if illegal) get imported and end up finding their way into Confederate households which likely tempts those in the north to build ultra high powered Border Stations to beam signals directly into the Confederacy (An outright ban on Television becomes completely useless once Satellites appear making foreign Television Broadcasts receivable in the Confederacy). What most likely happens is the Confederacy allows Television Broadcasts by the end of the 1950's (If television is introduced in the U.S. in 1941 as per OTL).

Television in the Confederacy in the beginning would likely consist of a National Public Broadcaster run by the Confederate Government and Each State Government running it's own Public Broadcaster. Don't expect any Commercial Television broadcasts in the Confederacy to be allowed until the late 1970's at the earliest (Or Pay Television until the 1990's).

An outright ban on Television in South Africa was only possible due to South Africa's neighboring countries not introducing Television until long after the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) started it's Television Broadcasts (In 1976 OTL).
 
The South African route would likely end up impossible once the Television Stations start up in the U.S. (Union) it would be impossible for the Confederacy to enforce any outright ban as Televisions (Even if illegal) get imported and end up finding their way into Confederate households which likely tempts those in the north to build ultra high powered Border Stations to beam signals directly into the Confederacy (An outright ban on Television becomes completely useless once Satellites appear making foreign Television Broadcasts receivable in the Confederacy). What most likely happens is the Confederacy allows Television Broadcasts by the end of the 1950's (If television is introduced in the U.S. in 1941 as per OTL).

Television in the Confederacy in the beginning would likely consist of a National Public Broadcaster run by the Confederate Government and Each State Government running it's own Public Broadcaster. Don't expect any Commercial Television broadcasts in the Confederacy to be allowed until the late 1970's at the earliest (Or Pay Television until the 1990's).

An outright ban on Television in South Africa was only possible due to South Africa's neighboring countries not introducing Television until long after the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) started it's Television Broadcasts (In 1976 OTL).

Confederate News Network, Confederate Broadcast Service, Southern Allied Stations, and Evangelical International Listening already have their acronyms accounted for though :p
 
Confederate News Network, Confederate Broadcast Service, Southern Allied Stations, and Evangelical International Listening already have their acronyms accounted for though :p

Interesting names. The names that I was thinking that would apply to Television networks in a surviving Confederacy would be.

Confederate States Broadcasting (National Public Broadcaster), Sunshine Television (Florida Public Broadcaster), Palmetto Television (South Carolina Public Broadcaster), Yellowhammer Television (Alabama Public Broadcaster), Arkansas Television Network (Arkansas Public Broadcaster), Bayou Television (Louisiana Public Broadcaster), Magnolia Television (Mississippi Public Broadcaster), Tar Heel Television (North Carolina Public Broadcaster), Tennessee Broadcasting Corporation (Tennessee Public Broadcaster), Old Dominion Television (Virginia Public Broadcaster).

Lone Star Television will be the name of a Television Network based in Texas but I think that Texas would likely declare independence and break off from the Confederacy in the early 20th century.
 
Interesting names. The names that I was thinking that would apply to Television networks in a surviving Confederacy would be.

Confederate States Broadcasting (National Public Broadcaster), Sunshine Television (Florida Public Broadcaster), Palmetto Television (South Carolina Public Broadcaster), Yellowhammer Television (Alabama Public Broadcaster), Arkansas Television Network (Arkansas Public Broadcaster), Bayou Television (Louisiana Public Broadcaster), Magnolia Television (Mississippi Public Broadcaster), Tar Heel Television (North Carolina Public Broadcaster), Tennessee Broadcasting Corporation (Tennessee Public Broadcaster), Old Dominion Television (Virginia Public Broadcaster).

Lone Star Television will be the name of a Television Network based in Texas but I think that Texas would likely declare independence and break off from the Confederacy in the early 20th century.
You should look at the Catherverse TL and maybe talk to @Chipperback
 
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