China’s most publicized, and maybe only Indie Film Festival, now in its 11th year, has been shuttered by the authorities. “Independent” is a word that frightens totalitarians, and according to the AP, this is not the first time they’ve gone after this festival. They’ve zeroed in on the organizers and they’re plainly at risk of arrest if they defy the State and try to show films that aren’t Communist Party approved.

With Hollywood tacking towards the Pacific Rim as its next growth market, pandering to China in the occasional big action picture (“Transformers 4”, for instance), ridding itself of overtly Chinese villains in all films, another move like this would give, you’d figure, the industry pause. If it was concerned about anything other than the bottom line, they’d realize how much aiding and abetting a Police State will make the cinema look, in the long haul.

Instead, another generation of Russian villains, oligarchs and megalomaniacs, as well as the usual Jihadists and the like which don’t reflect the True Evil Empire du jour.