Art house films still suffer in China

By Zhang Rui
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, May 9, 2015
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A poster of "You Are My Sunshine" [Photo/Mtime.com]



Jiang Yong, a film market researcher, told Mtime.com that the Chinese film market runs on underground deals and hidden rules that don't leave much room for art house films. "It is not really a fair market. And if the market pays too much attention to the commercial aspect of films, it will lose the cultural aspect of films. Also, the young generation of moviegoers is not mature and they don't have high taste in films. Audiences need to be guided and filmmakers need to speak out."

Film producer Kong Jun said he understands Wang and Chang's situation, but he also understands that theaters want to maximize their profits, too. "Now another problem is that the market and audiences have developed abnormally. They ask for big stars and special effects -- who cares about real stories?" said Wei Guoping, a film promoter. Sha Dan, a curator of the China Film Archive, proposed that building art house theaters in China may be a solution for the future. Sha said that a program to establish dozens of screens in cities nationwide to support the screening of art house films has already been established.

While attending the largest national film industry promotional conference in Hangzhou on May 6, Wang appeared before theater managers and denied that he was asking that more money be made from art house films. "I made this film seriously, and I just wanted to get the cost back to make investors and distributors happy. Only then can such films still manage to live on in this market. Otherwise, if this kind of films perishes in the market, you have to worry about the future of the market. "

The film's producer Liu Xuan, Wang's wife, said "Red Amnesia" cost 20 million yuan (US$3.22 million) to make and 11 million yuan (US$1.77 million) to promote. The film therefore has to gross about 93 million yuan (US$14.98 million) to break even, but since the Hollywood blockbuster "Avengers: Age of Ultron" is gearing up to smash more box office records on May 12, Wang won't have many chances to reach that goal.

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