Now showing in China - independent films
By Mitch Moxley
BEIJING - While Hollywood blockbusters and state-funded historical epics
continue to dominate China's box office, a vibrant independent film scene is
quietly growing.
Lacking distribution channels that lead to wide audiences, these films, which
tend to focus on aspects of day-to-day life in China, are finding a home at the
few independent cinemas that exist here and at film festivals dedicated to
independent and documentary filmmaking at home and abroad.
"Although these kinds of films aren't allowed to be screened at most theatres,
independent film is developing well in China," Cui Weiping, a film professor at
the Beijing Film Academy, told Inter Press Service (IPS). "You can find people
talking about them at
university lectures, in art salons, etcetera. Independent film is an
influential part of China's film industry."
China's box office take is expected to hit US$1.5 billion this year, according
to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Hollywood films, 20 of which are allowed
to play in China per year, continue to be the biggest money makers. Avatar,
James Cameron's 3-D epic, has pulled in $204 million in China so far in 2010.
China's home-grown, big-budget film industry is also growing. Aftershock,
which focuses on the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, recently became the
highest-grossing Chinese film in history after it earned $79 million in ticket
sales as of early August, overtaking The Founding of a Republic, a 2009
film that depicts Mao Zedong's rise to power and pulled in $62 million.
Film Bureau Director Tong Gang told Xinhua that China had made 288 movies in
the first half of 2010 and is projected to complete 500 this year, which will
make China the third-largest film producer in the world, after India and the
United States. Only a small number of Chinese films make it to theatres, and
many of these are produced by the state-run China Film Group and often play on
a swelling national pride to attract wide audiences.
The growing number of big-budget films playing in China's multiplexes is not
necessarily a bad thing for independent cinema in the country, said Wu Jing,
programming and marketing manager at Broadway Cinematheque, an independent
cinema in Beijing. As the audience for big-budget films grows, an interest in
independent films will emerge accordingly, Wu told IPS.
"Cinema is growing very fast in China," she said. "As the audience grows, they
become eager to find other things to see."
Broadway Cinematheque was founded 14 years ago in Hong Kong by Bill Kong,
producer of films including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.
The Beijing branch, which opened in December 2009, hosts a number of film
festivals - including, recently, a tribute to Charlie Chaplin - and helps shine
the spotlight on local talent. The cinema also hosts lectures and runs a
library, bookstore and cafe.
More than half of the films screened at Broadway are made by Chinese directors.
Even though these films all meet Wu's definition of independent movies - they
do not appear in commercial theaters - they are still subject to the country's
censors, as are all films played in China.
China currently has film festivals dedicated to independent and documentary
films in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Chongqing, and some of
China's independent films are finding a small audience abroad. dGenerate films,
a US-based distributor, carries 25 titles available for online streaming at $5
per film, and for purchase at varying prices.
Independent cinema in China emerged in the 1980s, when underground films were
made outside of state funding. Some were screened at international film
festivals. In the 1990s, national control of distribution was opened up,
allowing filmmakers to cooperate with private businesses to see their films
distributed.
Notable films representative of this period, according to Beijing Film
Academy's Cui, include Wu Wenguang's 1990 documentary Bumming in Beijing,
considered one of China's first independent documentaries, and Zhang Yuan's
1993 film Beijing Bastards, one of China's first independently produced
films.
Broadway Cinematheque's Wu said that for independent film to truly thrive today
and reach a wider audience, China's censor system will need to be overhauled -
something unlikely to happen anytime soon. She also worries about the
aspirations of younger directors, whose goals are to make big-budget films
destined for commercial theatres.
The weakened international film market, meanwhile, gives little incentive for
Chinese directors to make controversial films that skirt the censors in order
to appeal to an international audience, Wu said.
For some filmmakers, however, China is the land of opportunity.
Qiao Li, 24, was born in Jinan, Shandong province, raised in Melbourne,
Australia, and in 2006 moved to Beijing, where he co-wrote and co-directed a
feature film called Ring Roads and has maintained a constant stream of
work since then. He says the low cost of entry and the freedom he has as an
independent director working outside the mainstream Chinese film industry have
given him opportunities that do not exist in Australia.
"The reason I decided to work in China were the many, many opportunities
available to a filmmaker here," Qiao told IPS. "China to me seemed like a land
of potential and where there didn't seem to be many rules and for me, that was
all I needed to know to make my mind up to be based here. The overall industry
here is thriving and it's free enough to let me do my thing and still be able
to pay the rent, and that's something I would have had a hard time doing back
home."
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
