Film industry

• The Chinese Communist Party has published regular communiques pushing Xi’s ideological line and When Marx met Confucius is the latest version of this propaganda drive.
• Its aim is to reconcile the regime’s official Marxist underpinnings with an appeal to a more specifically Chinese cultural heritage.
• This idea was introduced by Xi in July 2021, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.
• Some analysts view Xi’s propaganda efforts through the lens of his steady encouragement of a cult of personality in China.

Challenges of legitimacy

• As Ci observes, the CCP “can have no other publicly avowable source of legitimacy than the one tied to its communist revolutionary past”.
• But this legitimacy was significantly weakened after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
• But this performance legitimacy, relying heavily as it does on economic success, contains inherent vulnerabilities that could undermine the regime.

Lukewarm public response

• Outside of official endorsements, the film seems to have received few positive comments within China.
• Significantly, initial responses from two main ideological camps – the Maoists and the Confucianists – have diverged dramatically.
• So this attempt to promote “Xi Jingping thought” to the Chinese public appears to be a hard sell.

Tao Zhang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• TORONTO, Nov. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- illumin Holdings Inc. (TSX: ILLM) (“illumin” or the “Company”), a journey advertising technology company that empowers marketers to make smarter decisions about communicating with online consumers, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023.
• Third quarter 2023 revenue was $29.6 million up 2.4% year-over-year, reflecting growth in our self-serve business.
• The Company onboarded 33 net new self-serve clients during the quarter, reflecting sales initiatives targeting higher-spend clients and positioning the Company for continued illumin self-serve revenue growth in Q4 2023.
• Tal Hayek, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of illumin, stated, “During the third quarter, we generated substantial year-over-year growth in illumin self-serve revenue.

• Documentary Destiny Concealed: The Eagle Academy Public Charter School Story wins nine awards throughout U.S. film festivals, recognized by local publications
  WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Academy Public Charter School is celebrating its locally and nationally acclaimed documentary film, Destiny Concealed: The Eagle Academy Public Charter School Story, which honors the school's unique origins and influential co-founders, Cassandra S. Pinkney and Dr. Joe Smith.
• Eagle Academy PCS in Washington, D.C., celebrates its nationally acclaimed documentary film, Destiny Concealed.
• Destiny Concealed, directed by Cheryl Montalvo, founder and chief executive officer of Insite Media Network, was awarded first place honors at the WRPN Women's International Film Festival, the Piermont Film Festival, and A Show for a Change Film Festival.
• Likewise, it was named an "Official Selection" at the Women's International Film Festival, the Wine, Women & Film Festival, the Urban Film Festival, and the Hollywood First-Time Filmmaker Showcase.

• And yet, this is just one further thrilling development in the Le Portier tale.
• After merely two years since its establishment, Le Portier is internationally renowned, boasting seven of the industry's most significant accolades, including none other than Platinum at the SIP Awards.
• There was a 36% increase in cognac consumption in China from 2019 to 2020, highlighting the global thirst for this spirit.
• "Shay" by Le Portier is a VSOP cognac that challenges traditional market norms by offering the complexity of a luxury VSOP at a more accessible price point.