Boost to film industry

    A NEW draft law aiming to strengthen the Chinese film industry by cutting red tape for filmmakers and cracking down on piracy, among other measures, was put before China’s top legislature Friday.

    The law will revoke some filmmaking permits, simplify the process of regulatory reviews to which prospective scripts are subjected and make it easier to hold film festivals. Chinese filmmakers are promised with incentives in financing, taxation and land use.

    Accident

    ONE person was killed and 13 others injured Thursday when a stage lighting under construction for a concert by pop diva Jolin Tsai collapsed in Nanning. The accident occurred at around 5 p.m. in the Guangxi Sports Center in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, when workers were building the structure.

    One of the injured is in a serious condition while the rest suffered minor injuries. Tsai’s concert was scheduled for Saturday. She said she was sorry about the accident on Weibo.

    ‘The Silent Wife’

    NICOLE KIDMAN is set to star in Adrian Lyne’s suspense thriller “The Silent Wife,” based on the best-selling book by A.S.A. Harrison.

    Kidman will play Jodi, a dedicated wife who, despite her husband Todd’s frequent indiscretions, continues to play the dutiful spouse. When confronted with the brutal truth of him leaving her for a younger woman, Jodi will not accept defeat. What begins as a tragic dissolution of a marriage quickly spirals into a game of cat and mouse with calamitous stakes.

    ‘Rough week’ for Bieber

    JUSTIN BIEBER walked off the stage in Oslo, Norway on Thursday night after performing just one song and did not return. The concert was an intimate event for 950 people and was being filmed for the late night Norwegian talk show Senkveld on channel TV2. He had been scheduled to perform five or six songs. Bieber opened his set with “Boyfriend” but got frustrated with some fans in the front who interfered while Bieber tried to wipe water off the stage, trying to grab the shirt he was using to do so.

    Bieber posted an explanation to his Instagram immediately following the incident, writing, “Sadly it’s been a rough week for me, long days no sleep, while having to be ‘on’ as they would say for cameras fans etc.”(SD-Agencies)