Transcending barriers at film festival

"A common challenge faced by the Chinese and American film industries is that during the pandemic, people gradually developed a dependency on online streaming content. After the pandemic, this shift in consumption habits has posed challenges for the film industries in both countries," says Liang Junjian, associate professor at Tsinghua University.

As they navigate similar challenges, the two film industries are paying closer attention to each other — drawing on each other's insights, and exploring collaborative opportunities.

At the 45th American Film Market earlier this month in Las Vegas, the China Film Joint Pavilion hosted by the China Film Group garnered considerable interest.

Fu Ruoqing, chairman of the China Film Group, says that Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros, Universal, Sony and Disney, have shown interest in distributing Chinese films, and in forming partnerships.

At this year's China Film Golden Rooster Awards ceremony, Oppenheimer, a biopic written and directed by British American filmmaker Christopher Nolan, won the Best Foreign Language Film award. The award was established in 2021 to align with international standards and attract outstanding films from abroad. It chronicles the life of American scientist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and his pivotal role in the development of the atomic bomb.

"Film festivals and awards represent a real opportunity for cultural exchange and development," Richard Allen, chair professor of the School of Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong, said while attending a forum on film education and industry at Xiamen University during the festival.

"In principle, both China and the US should be interested in marketing their films in each other's markets, because the profits to be made are potentially much larger if they collaborate, rather than compete against each other," he said.