Screen searching

Sun Xiaoxiao, director of the Filming East Festival, says she hopes the event will open a window for Westerners to find out more about modern China. Provided to China Daily

Chinese films have captured an audience in Britain, but one filmmaker says it is still too small and could do with better fare to reach wider circle

The Chinese film industry has grown strongly in recent years, but many big-budget Chinese films still struggle, or simply fall flat, at Western box offices. But that does not mean Chinese filmmakers who aspire to make it into the top league have given up trying to sell their films to overseas audiences. Sun Xiaoxiao, 30, director of the Filming East Festival, is one young filmmaker who promotes Chinese films in Britain to help local people gain more understanding of contemporary China.

"Of the various art forms, film is the one best able to transmit Chinese culture, and is also the most intuitive and direct way for people to learn about various aspects of China," she says.

"A successful film can have a very strong impact, and even shape the image of a country."

As the director of the Filming East Festival, Sun has had a bigger stage to promote Chinese films of different genres and talented Chinese filmmakers overseas.

The festival, founded in 2007 and sponsored by the now disbanded UK Film Council, is the country's largest Chinese film festival. It holds screenings and runs a short-film competition, production workshops and international forums.

The festival is held from October to November in London and other cities in England and Wales, and lasts 10 to 15 days. It is the sole Chinese partner and representative of the British Academy of Film and Television and event partner of the British Film Institute in Chinese film exhibitions.

Since 2007, the festival has brought tremendous awareness of the Chinese film industry to British audiences, including filmmakers. It has 3,000 registered members, a number that has grown steadily.

"Our audience demographics cover a large variety of nationalities and ethnicities, including English as well as Chinese living in Britain," Sun says.

"From a professional point of view, our aim is to build links between British and Chinese filmmakers and to establish ties with the film sector in both countries."

Sun says her desire to promote Chinese films overseas was driven mainly by her concern that the influence of Chinese films did not match the growth of the country's economy or of its film market.

"China does not lack good movies, but needs to explore effective ways to promote them overseas," Sun says.

Even though the Chinese film industry grew four-fold over the first decade of this century, Sun says the number of good Chinese films in Western cinemas has fallen as younger Chinese film directors started looking inward for recognition and box office success.

By far the most successful Chinese films at the box office in the West have been martial arts films, she says, attracting moviegoers by an abundance of screen action rather than good storytelling. In contrast, films with an urban theme from which audiences can learn more about contemporary China are scarce.

"Chinese culture is more than just martial arts," Sun says. "The popularity of Chinese action movies and kung fu movies reflects the fact that many good Chinese productions are not reaching mainstream audiences overseas."

In that light, one of the festival's main tasks, she says, is to introduce various genres of well-made Chinese films overseas. Each year the festival will bring more than 20 China-themed films to public attention, most of them documentaries and art films.

"Our sales pitch is kung fu-free," says Xiao Yang, the festival manager. "At the festival you will see more romance, comedy and art films, and documentaries."

At present the understanding of China among British film audiences is largely limited to martial arts and food, he says.

"We want the British to find out more about modern China. Perhaps the films we select are not quite up there with Chinese calligraphy or antiques in spreading traditional Chinese culture, but we have a very powerful platform to promote contemporary China."

The festival jury is composed of six Britons who are experts in films and Chinese culture, ensuring the selected films match the tastes of the audiences, Xiao says.

In the past two years, in addition to documentary and theatrical films, the festival has also started to introduce commercial blockbusters into Britain, and the response was positive.

"In 2009, the humorous dialogue of the comedy You Are the One by the well-known director Feng Xiaogang had moviegoers in stitches, which dispelled our fear that perhaps British audiences just don't get Chinese humor," Sun says.

"The quality of subtitles plays a key role in promoting Chinese films overseas, but there is a dearth of good translators, because you don't just have to be proficient in English, but have literary talent too."

The success of You Are the One reinforced the determination of Sun and her team to introduce more popular films to Britain.

The festival has established ties with several British film distributors, paving the way for more Chinese blockbusters to be screened in Britain.

"Relying on festival screenings to promote Chinese films is far from enough, the best way being through commercial channels," Sun says.

"Apart from martial arts films, British distributors still show scant regard for Chinese movies, but we hope that through our efforts that will change.

"The festival offers not only cultural exposure to China for audiences, but also a door for the British film industry to establish a strategic partnership with its Chinese counterparts."

As Sun and her team carry on their mission in Britain, they have their minds set on a similar campaign in France and Germany, and in the United States when the time is right.

After living in Britain for eight years, she has become keenly aware that there is a thirst to know more about Eastern culture, particularly as China grows economically.

"We hope the events we organize open a window for Westerners to find out more about modern China."

liulu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/17/2012 page28)