Shanghai film fest
Hundreds of movies and celebrities, including Yang Mi, at event
It rains frequently in Shanghai, but the humid weather hardly dampens the passions of those who love or are involved in cinema. The first city in China to screen foreign movies in theaters as early as 1896 is paying tribute to the tradition.
The ongoing 20th Shanghai International Film Festival, which runs from June 17 to 26, features around 500 acclaimed movies from 57 countries and regions.
More than 400 celebrities, including French actor Jean Reno and Italian actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta, were at the opening ceremony.
Japanese romance Hirugao — Love Affairs in the Afternoon was a hit with 5,000 tickets sold online in 30 seconds.
Fans who failed to get tickets then turned to scalpers, who charged 2,000 yuan ($293) — more than 30 times the original price.
But despite Chinese enthusiasm for good movies, domestic filmmakers are not optimistic about their prospects.
This was reflected at the festival’s forums, which serve as barometers for what is happening in China’s rapidly evolving movie industry.
Feng Xiaogang says China has produced a lot of lousy flops. But he says it may be a blessing in disguise.
“When the market shrinks, it will see irrelevant people (opportunists) leave. So, those who work on making quality movies will stay and survive,” he says.
Wang Zhonglei, CEO of Huayi Brothers, says local theaters have been premiering at least eight domestic movies every week for the past several months, but most have failed.
“Almost every weekend, Hollywood blockbusters take the lead (in the box-office charts). The phenomenon shows that the Chinese are not cutting back on their visits to theaters, but we (the Chinese filmmakers) need to improve.”
These views are echoed by Ren Zhonglun, president of the Shanghai Film Group, who says 70 percent of China’ s box-office receipts from March to May were taken by imports.
“China is not short of good stories, as we have many excellent authors. But we lack professionals to transform the stories into appealing cinematic works,” he says.
Wang Changtian, president of Enlight Media, admits that there is a slowdown but insists that the Chinese movie industry is “improving”.
He says that local talent is exploring genres that Hollywood has dominated for decades, like sci-fi tales and effects-studded epics, pointing to new projects and forthcoming movies promoted on the opening ceremony’s red carpet as evidence.
The movies include Jackie Chan’s sci-fi thriller Bleed Steel, Louis Koo’s alienthemed comedy Meow and Yang Mi’s and Wallace Huo’s time-travel adventure, Reset.
Ning Hao, director of 2014’s top-grossing domestic movie Breakup Buddies, unveiled the Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) project to develop sci-fi franchises.
The project’s first movie is Fengkuang de Waixingren (Crazy Aliens). It’s based on novelist Liu Cixin’s short story Xiangcun Jiaoshi (A Village School Teacher).
Liu, the first Chinese to win a Hugo award for The Three Body Problem, says the script is different from the novel but links China’ s rural life to outer space.
Meanwhile, revolutionary movies, which once dominated China’s screens, are also making changes to appeal to the youth.
Works like The Founding of An Army are using young stars to showcase the history of the Communist Party’s fighting forces.
Changes are also evident in some powerful, unconventional players.
Around three years ago, internet giants like Alibaba and Tencent — despite being outsiders in the movie industry — set up subsidiaries to enter the field.
Now, Alibaba Pictures, the film arm of the e-commerce behemoth, is reworking its strategy, says Yu Yongfu, CEO of Alibaba Pictures and Alibaba Digital Entertainment.
He says that filmmakers can benefit from the company’s strength in big data to promote their movies.
But, as Alibaba shifts to filmmaking, Tencent is developing IP (referring to popular content with huge fan bases) franchises.
Tencent Pictures, Tencent Games, Wanda Pictures and Tencent’s online literature platform China Reading recently set up a venture to develop IP franchises, including movies, TV series, games and theme parks.