The most encouraging information which emerged about the Chinese film industry during the past 12 months is the belated recognition of the importance of mid-budget filmmaking. This is significant. For many years, the film industry has concentrated on making three types of films: blockbusters, which are increasingly spectacular but empty in content: extremely low-budget auteur films which do little business at the box-office; and propaganda films. The latter now seem ridiculous, and have become obsolete in a society which has little concern for ideology. It seems those with decision-making powers have finally understood that a turning point for the film industry will be reached because of highquality, medium-budget commercial films.
After the astonishing success of the 2006 film Crazy Stone (Feng Kuang De Shi Tou) -which cost 4 million RMB and took 23 million at the box-office - director Ning Hao has become an example to be imitated. The production model of his film has almost become a textbook case for future productions. The black comedy genre, in particular, is becoming increasingly popular amongst producers and public. Silver Medallist (Feng Kuang Sai Che), Ning Hao’s new film, currently in post-production and financed by the China Film Group as a co-production with Warner China Film, is the most anticipated film of the year. More than 50 journalists turned up on the set to interview the director, a wave of media frenzy which is normally reserved for big-budget blockbusters.
In the meantime, many other directors have been making forays into this genre, producing films that explicitly reference Ning Hao. These include Crazy Lottery (Cai Piao Ye Feng Kuang) by Gong Yingtian, Call for Love (Ai Qing Hu Jiao Zhuan Yi) by Zhang Jianya, Big Movie (I & II) (Da Dian Ying) by Ah Gan, etc. All these films cost between 5 and 10 million RMB, and were made by young directors who are in tune with the tastes of a young public and have the courage to make fun of both themselves and society. Even the director Ma Liwen has gone from films with a high sentimental content (Dearest Is The One..., You And Me) to a frenetically paced black comedy, My Name Is Liu Yuejin (Wo Jiao Liu Ye Jin). For the first time, we are witnessing an entrepreneurial frenzy which revolves around these brilliant and astute youngsters. In the past few months, 6 investment funds have been launched by State and business consortiums, worth a total of 170 million RMB. They will finance medium-budget films dealing with contemporary issues and made by young directors. The China Film Group has even formed a partnership with a Taiwanese production company, Era International, to produce 10 films in the next three years, all by young Taiwanese or Chinese directors from the mainland.
There’s more. The SARFT (State Administration of Radio, Film and TV) announced the Young Director Subsidy Plan which will be awarded to 16 film-makers under 45 years of age. The Beijing multiplex cinema chain, New Film Association, founded China Youth Director Investment Company, which will invest in 5 commercial films per year. Even the city of Xi’an has set up a five-year support project for 10 young directors. The company, Joy Media, has acquired the Rongshu.com site, which is specialised in literature published on the Internet and which can be used as source material for screenplays to be developed by young writers. It’s sponsored by a fund put at their disposal via an agreement with the China Film Group. These financiers will also marginally help indie directors such as Jia Zhangke or Wang Xiaoshuai who, despite winning international awards, make little money at the national box-office. But the funds’ main aims are to develop commercial cinema.
Another fact which bears witness to the importance given to mid-budget commercial films is the creation of a partnership between five big multiplex cinemas. This has been provisionally named the Chinese Film Union. From mid-2008 it will run a circuit of 50 screens specialised in the projection of homegrown mid-budget films. The five taking part in this venture (New Film Association of Beijing, Shanghai United Circuit, Stellar Megamedia Circuit, Wanda Cinema Circuit and China Film Southern Cinema Circuit, who with the multiplexes they manage, get 50% of the total box-office takings across the whole of China) will reserve one screen to show these films. In this way, mid-budget productions which have limited finance for marketing and prints, can benefit from the indirect publicity derived from the fact that their films are being shown in the main cinemas in the major cities.
At the moment, two or three nationally produced films are released every month into theatres. But, on average, the box office takings do not exceed 5 million RMB, a figure which is grossly disproportionate to the potential offered by such a huge market, and one that is still dominated by blockbuster films. This partnership between the five multiplexes, backed by the SARFT, is also seen as a form of protectionism for homegrown cinema, which remains threatened by the popularity of US cinema.
The most effective protectionist measures are the blackout periods. These periods, which are decided by the government, block the release of foreign films during the most lucrative cinematic periods. In 2007, the blackout periods were particularly long and frequent, being enforced in June, July, September and December. But the mainstay of protectionism is still a quota which sets a limit of 20 highly commercial films imports per year, with a profit sharing scheme for the box office takings.
Despite this, the film with the highest box-office takings in 2007 was the US production Transformers with 280 million RMB. It was followed by The Assembly (Ji Jie Hao) by Feng Xiaogang, a modern historical epic called the Chinese reply to Saving Private Ryan, and The Warlords (Tou Ming Zhuang) by Peter Chan. Both were released at the start of December, and had a little less than a month to earn 180 million each.
The most discussed film of the year was Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution (Si, Jie). It performed well at the box-office (135 million), despite the severe cuts imposed on it by the censors in order for it to be released in the theatres. The other much-anticipated auteur film, Jiang Wen’s The Sun Also Rises (Tai Yang Zhao Chang Sheng Qi), was a notable flop with public and critics alike.
According to statistics published by SARFT, in 2007 the film industry grew by 30% overall. Total box-office takings were 3.3 billion RMB, with an increase of 26% on the previous year. National cinema made up 54% of total box-office takings, compared to the 46% of imports. The sale of rights abroad reached the figure of 2.1 billion RMB (78 films exported to 47 countries) and the sale of TV rights was worth 1.4 billion. There were 402 films produced, of which 208 took part in 97 international film festivals, winning 49 awards.
In the wake of such encouraging results, the China Film Group, the main player in the sector, is preparing its debut on the stock market, while private and state investments are on the rise, including those in the distribution sector. In 2007, the number of theatres grew by 108, to reach a total of 493.
According to some analysts, the Chinese film industry will be worth 7 billion RMB in 2010, and as much as 16 billion in 2015. But these forecasts are based on the assumption that the spending power of the middle-class continues to grow, that piracy will be reduced while the legal home-video market develops, that the number of cinema screens and productions - home-grown and coproduced - continue to increase. The country must also liberalise artistic productions with appropriate measures, including legislative ones.
With regards to the latter point, it ‘s worth pointing out that, following in the footsteps of Hong Kong’s Filmart and the Pusan Promotion Plan, the 2007 Shanghai Film Festival inaugurated the Co-production Trade Talk event. This was an event created with the aim of raising funds on the international market for Chinese film projects, and to encourage co productions with foreign partners.
In the meantime, with regards to legislation, there is no news on the drastically overlooked plan to create a classification system which allows for the distribution of films to an adult public.
On this point, 2007 was a particularly tough year, starting with the five-year ban imposed on the director Lou Ye, who presented his film Summer Palace (Yi He Yuan) at the Cannes Film Festival. (It contained full frontal nudity, a first for Chinese cinema). Worse still, it contained archive footage from the student protest in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Shortly afterwards, the success of Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution at the Venice Film Festival was followed by huge controversy. There were problems with the film’s politics, and with the notorious sex scenes which, despite being cut for the film’s distribution on the Chinese market, were seen by all on the DVD version available on the pirate market. The problem became even more of a burning issue with the release of the film Lost In Beijing (Ping Guo) by Li Yu which, after a few weeks of being shown in cinemas, was seized by authorities. Its producers were banned from filmmaking for two years, accused of releasing a version on the Internet and the home-video market which had not been authorised by the Film Bureau.
The outcome of all these “incidents” was the withdrawal of film permits, and currently many films - both home-grown and co-production partnerships - have had their production or distribution paralysed while waiting for the authorities to lessen their grip.
With the coming of the Olympics, the Chinese government is dead set on presenting the image of a “clean”, modern, country to the outside world. It has, therefore, launched an endless series of educational and propaganda campaigns to encourage “internationally acceptable” behaviour and habits in its people. But the supposed opening up of the country, in-line with the “Olympic” spirit, clashes with the what’s happening to the film and TV sectors. Restrictive measures are, in fact, rising rather than waning. Foreign media will doubtlessly notice this. It can only be hoped that reason will prevail.
Maria Barbieri