11th BJIFF Arthouse Film Forum Held; Exploration of Distribution Methods from Nationwide Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas Get Ringing Endorsements

The 11th BJIFF

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The 11th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) Arthouse Film Forum, hosted by the 11th BJIFF Organizing Committee and organized by the China Film Archive (China Film Art Research Center), took place in Beijing on September 27.

With the theme "Caring about Stories, Caring about People – the Original Intention and Mission of Arthouse Films," the forum was attended by Dong Li, Level IV Division Rank Official of Market Division, China Film Administration; Li Xiulei, member of the Party Leadership Group, Deputy Chief Editor of Beijing Radio & Television Station and Deputy Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the 11th BJIFF; Sun Xianghui, Director of the China Film Archive, Director of the China Film Art Research Center and Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 11th BJIFF; Zhang Xiaoguang, Deputy Director of the China Film Archive, Deputy Director of the China Film Art Research Center and Deputy Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee of the 11th BJIFF; Lin Siwei, Deputy Director of the China Film Archive and Deputy Director of the China Film Art Research Center, and among others.

Group photo of guests present in the 11th BJIFF Arthouse Film Forum

Li Xiulei said in her speech that the BJIFF Beijing Film Panorama section has long been committed to recommending and selecting outstanding Chinese and foreign arthouse films that are highly appreciative, ideological and artistic, receiving ringing endorsements from the market and audiences. The BJIFF is evolving into an extraordinary model and a pacesetter for the development of arthouse films. With four years of efforts, the Arthouse Film Forum has experienced development, progress and growth from a parallel session originally to a main forum today, a process that demonstrates the original intention of the BJIFF to respect and promote arthouse films.

Li Xiulei, member of the Party Leadership Group, Deputy Chief Editor of Beijing Radio & Television Station and Deputy Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the 11th BJIFF, delivers a speech

In the theme release, Sun Xianghui booked back at the development and operations of the Nationwide Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas (NAAC) over the past five years. In the five years since its inception, NAAC has screened 33 films across its special cinema circuits, participated in the release of more than 100 arthouse films, and held a total of 10 film exhibitions. The number of franchised cinemas has grown from 100 at the very beginning of its launch to 2,800 at present. Remaining true to their original aspirations, the NAAC members have always been practicing the Joint Declaration of the Nationwide Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas.

Sun Xianghui, Director of the China Film Archive, Director of the China Film Art Research Center and Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 11th BJIFF, reviews the development and operations of NAAC

"Over the past five years, NAAC has always insisted on bringing the most artistic and creative films to the audience; provided more diversified and stable screening channels for the film market; provided fans with stable arthouse film show time and space; explored the way to discover targeted audiences and improved audience stickiness by consolidating movie fan groups, building the iCity community and an "expert pool" and "having audiences engaged" in other circles; stuck to distribution methods and continuously improved distribution efficiency," introduced Sun. "After five years of cultivation and development, NAAC’s franchised cinemas have gradually become the mainstay of arthouse film screening."

At the forum site, Sun also highlighted the outstanding Chinese and foreign films that will be released in the cinemas under NAAC. Among them, The Unfailing Radio Wave, the first black and white feature film colorized and restored at 4K, is about to be re-screened in theaters. The film is a result of the cooperation between the China Film Archive and the 5G new media platform of yangshipin.cn under China Media Group. They leveraged artificial intelligence and 4K restoration to restore and colorize 165,000 frames of screens in seven months.

4K restoration feature film The Unfailing Radio Wave

In addition, many of the excellent works selected in the Screenings of Selected Films from Central and Eastern European Countries in 2021, such as Father, Thou Shall Not Kill, Glory and All The Pretty Little Horses, will be screened in the member cinemas of NAAC. Some new home-made films like Beyond the Skies already shortlisted for this year’s BJIFF Tiantan Award are also expected to hit the cinema through NAAC.

Since October 15, 2021 marks the fifth birthday of NAAC, guests present at the forum also celebrated its “birthday” in advance.

In the Keynote session, Zhang Ji, screenwriter of My People, My Country and Leap, shared his views on "how to tell China’s stories in a typed way." He said that telling China’s stories well requires creators to take root in China while having a global vision. Zhang also believes that typology and localization are not in conflict, both of which must offer stories that are closest to the tastes of Chinese audiences and are both local and current. "We must respond to Chinese audiences by providing stories based on their current conditions and inner desires. If you don't really observe them and just derive another replica from one replica, it will not be possible to make truly local creations."

Screenwriter Zhang Ji delivers a speech

Beyond the Skies director Liu Zhihai succinctly introduced the "Chinese poetic film aesthetics". From the perspectives of the traditional aesthetics of Soviet poetic films, the influence of European film’s ethos, the context, democracy and poetry legacy of Chinese culture, the avant-garde writing of poetry and cinema and others, he analyzed the relationship between poetry and cinema, and accordingly explained film grammar and rhetoric system, limited and endless view of time and space, blank space in a film, mystery and disenchantment issues from the perspectives of film and form.

Director Liu Zhihai makes a speech

At the forum, Seven arthouse film creators from the five countries of Slovakia, Serbia, Romania, Greece and Bulgaria – Iveta Grófová, director of Little Harbor, Srdan Golubovi?, director of Father, Catalin Rotaru/Gabi Virginia Sarga, directors of Thou Shall Not Kill, Michalis Konstantatos, director of All The Pretty Little Horses, and Petar Valchanov/Kristina Grozeva, directors of Glory – also recorded videos, sharing their creative ideas and introducing films from their respective countries to the guests present at the forum.

In the Theme Salon session, Li Yunbo, screenwriter and director of Pearl, Liao Xi, producer of Lhamo and Skalbe, Joseph Liao, Chief Marketing Officer at Sony Pictures, China and Pamela Lingyan Bai, founder of Hugoeast Media discussed on the theme of "Refinement – Mass Decentralization Promotes the High-quality Development of Films". The conversation was moderated by Zuo Heng, research fellow and Director of the Film Culture Research Office of China Film Archive (China Film Art Research Center).

The panelists in the Theme Salon session

In their conversation, the four panelists all gave a ringing endorsement for NAAC’s persistence in exploring distribution methods in China. Pearl directed by Li Yunbo is currently being screened in special cinema circuits under NAAC. Li said that the approach of distributing different films in different cinemas helped the film get a longer screening period and reach more audiences who love the film. Producer Liao Xi said that for arthouse films, it is more important to accurately target the audience, "Release in all cinemas does not mean a high box-office taking. Arthouse film creators should set up the thinking of distributing different films in different cinemas and home in on target audiences who love the film. I think it's very unrealistic to deliberately pursue screening in all cinemas."

Joseph Liao said frankly that all film promotion efforts are essentially the same, "It is a way that finds relatively targeted audiences for the film, and then guides them to complete ticket purchase through a way acceptable to these audiences or what they favor." But he also believes that in the operation of publicity and distribution, different films should be selected and distributed according to their own circumstances. He believes that the publicity and distribution of arthouse films needs more time for "careful cultivation." Pamela Lingyan Bai introduced her own journey in the promotion of arthouse films, "If my decision to run a business was made on the spur of the moment at the very beginning, then I think it should be described as 'true feelings without regrets' now."