Chinese Cinema Salutes Centenary

 "Directors should have a clear understanding about the society in which they make films and make movies with positive themes for filmgoers" - Minister of Radio, Film and Television Tong Gang

China celebrates 100 years of moviemaking in 2005, a year likely to be marked by the accelerating growth of an industry that has been slow to mature.

According to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), 2004 was the first year in China's filmmaking history that the top 10 domestic films out-performed blockbusters imported from abroad. Attending the 8th Hong Kong Film Directors Symposium in early January, Minister of SARFT Tong Gang said China's mainland gross box office reached 1.5 billion yuan (US$180 million) in 2004. The number of films screened rose 50 percent to 212. SARFT predicts the gross box office of China's mainland film industry will exceed 2 billion yuan (US$242 million) this year.

Risky Business

Despite the general optimism about the mainland movie market, the Hong Kong Directors Symposium heard from one disgruntled filmmaker. Hong Kong-based producer, director and actor Eric Tsang lost out when his gangster film Blood Brothers failed to make it onto mainland screens - the only one of 213 Chinese films to be examined by SARFT and fail to receive approval.

"As a filmmaker and producer, of course, I know investors take the mainland market into consideration," said Tsang. "We invested in it [Blood Brothers] after the screenplay was approved. We followed 97 percent of the screenplay. We were afraid of losing the market while making the film but in the end we still lost it."

SARFT said the ban was due to an overload of bloody scenes as well the dark theme of the film, which SARFT maintained was harmful to children. Minister Tong said that just because the screenplay was approved didn't mean the film wouldn't have problems. He said directors should have a clear understanding about the society in which they make films and make movies with positive themes for filmgoers.

Although Tsang lost tens of millions of RMB in expected revenue following the ban, he still expressed a willingness to develop the mainland market in the future, despite the strict conditions for public viewing tastes.

The dwindling prosperity of the Hong Kong film industry was also a hot topic at the symposium, with questions raised about the development of an all-China film sector. 

Industry sources say the decline of Hong Kong's film industry is due to the invasion of pirate material and cheap in-home entertainment options as well as a shortage of investment, diversified screen content and talented young actors.

Accroding to Wen Juan, president of the Hong Kong Film Awards Association, only a few movies drew large audiences in Hong Kong in 2004. "The well-received New Police Story by Jackie Chan has taken only 20 million HK dollars," he said, leading some local media to declare, "The Ice Age has arrived for Hong Kong's film industry."

An All-China Industry?

Under The Mainland China/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangements (CEPA) that came into effect January 1, 2004, the Chinese mainland relaxed import restrictions on films made in Hong Kong as well as recasting co-production requirements in favour of Hong Kong's troubled movie industry. Chinese-language films produced by Hong Kong companies can now be imported for distribution on the Chinese mainland on a quota-free basis. China has a global import quota of 20 foreign films per year for distribution on a revenue-sharing basis.

Professor Zhou Keping at Shanghai University predicted, "With CEPA, we might see more Hong Kong films entering China's mainland. The mainland could also learn much about advanced ideas and expertise in film production and management from Hong Kong."

Inspired by CEPA's favourable policies, a number of Hong Kong filmmakers rushed to co-produce films with the Chinese mainland, regardless of their quality. Both sides co-produced over 30 films in 2004, compared to 10 in 2003, most of them comedy and action films.

However, the unexpected shift of focus by Hong Kong filmmakers to the mainland and their subsequent dabbling in movie co-production did not prevent the Hong Kong film industry continuing to wither in 2004. Many co-produced films lacked commercial savvy and lost money.

Gangsters, ghosts, gambling and blue movies used to be the staple of Hong Kong's best-sellers, but with current restrictions, these genres did not get viewing rights on the mainland. Having their "sophisticated weapons" removed, Hong Kong screenwriters no longer have predominance says Lin Bingkun, production director of Sil-Metropole, Hong Kong's biggest film producer and distributor. "Hong Kong films that want to be screened on the mainland must comply with mainland rules," says Lin.

But not every Hong Kong-based film company can clearly tell the difference in film restrictions between the two areas. Hong Kong director Peter Chan says, "Many co-produced films don't have the character of Hong Kong films, and worse, neither do they have mainland film characteristics."

On January 1, 2005, the second CEPA phase took effect. Hong Kong film production companies are now able to establish solely owned companies on the mainland.

Minister Tong said the government was dedicated to supporting an all-China film industry that promotes the interests of all the country's regions.

"We want to further create a sound environment and make more investors feel confident about China's market. In the future, the Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province, Hong Kong and Macao SARs will make greater efforts in cooperating and promoting Chinese-language films as well as bringing China's film to the world."

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Awards Seek Credibility

The First Chinese Film Directors Association Awards brought more than 200 filmmakers from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong together in Beijing on January 11 to honour the nation's 100 years of film.

Internationally acclaimed director Chen Kaige chaired the 11-member judging committee, which also included celebrated filmmakers Lu Xuechang and Jiang Wen. Director Feng Xiaogang, vice-president of the directors association, and Li Shaohong were excluded due to participation in the competition.

Tian Zhuangzhuang won Best Director award with Delamu, a documentary about the lives of an ethnic minority living on the border of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province. On receiving his award, Tian said "Cooperation between directors from China's mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan can better promote Chinese culture and society to the outside world."

Li Xuejian won Best Actor for his role in South of the Clouds and Zhou Xun beat off the competition to win Best Actress for her moving performance in Baober in Love. Commenting on whether she would follow fellow thespians and award nominees Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi and Shu Qi to Hollywood, Zhou Xun said "Sure, I concentrate on the story, not the environment where film is shot."

Ke Ke Xi Li, a film about the plight of the Tibetan antelope forced to near-extinction by local poaching, won 33-year-old Lu Chuan Best Young Director. Ke Ke Xi Li was the first Chinese mainland movie to be named Best Film in Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards last December.

The Top Box Office award went to Zhang Yimou for blockbuster House of Flying Daggers. The biggest hit of the year has raked in more than 148 million yuan (US$18 million).

The Lifetime Achievement award went to 66-year-old director Wu Tianming of the Xi'an Film Studio. Wu won acclaim with Life (1983), Old Well (1986) and other works of realism during the 1980s. As head of Xi'an Film Studio, Wu gave a start to much of the talent that has built China's film industry over the past 20 years. Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang and He Ping are among those Wu mentored.

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Events to celebrate the centenary of China's film industry

January 10-17: The 7th Changchun China Film Festival (film showing in five cities.)

January11: First Chinese Film Directors Association Awards (Beijing)

January 8-11: The Eighth Hong Kong Film Directors Symposium (Beijing)

February: Classic Film Theme Songs Concert (Beijing)

March: Selection of 100 Filmmakers and Film Stars (Guangzhou)

March 27: Announcement of 100 Best Chinese Films on the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards Presentation Ceremony (HK)

February-July 16: The Beijing-Hollywood World Movie Masters Forum-2005 (Beijing and Shanghai)

August: Publication of commemorative stamps

October: Screening of 100 Great Films across China; Monument to the Birthplace of China's films (Beijing)

December: Film International Academic Symposium

December: Openning Ceremony of the Chinese Film Museum (Beijing)