Film critics view the period of late April to early May as a battle without gunpowder, as many young Chinese directors compete against Hollywood blockbusters with their new films. Hope now falls on the new generation of directors, dubbed the "sixth generation."
Some representatives of sixth generation directors are Guan Hu, Ning Hao, Zhang Yang, and Yang Shupeng, emerging from underground only a few years ago. These faces succeed the fifth generation directors, household favorites Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Feng Xiaogang.
Whether the new tide will favor domestic productions or Hollywood hits is a question answered only by time. Meanwhile, producers at home are not taking any risks.
Combat strategies
"We need to [strategize] together. We cannot oppose Hollywood by fighting alone. We face strong competitors," director Guan Said, explaining why a number of sixth generation directors released movies almost simultaneously.
Young directors scrambled to screen their new films in cinemas for the upcoming summer crowds.
Yang Shupeng's An Inaccurate Memoir was released on April 23, the same day as Ning Hao's Guns and Roses. Five days later, Design of Death by Guan Hu premiered, followed shortly by Zhang Yang's Full Circle, released on May 8.
These directors receive support from both local media and Chinese audiences.
Film critic Lu Chuan believes domestic films are able to win out. He uses South Korea as an example. In South Korea, domestically produced films dominate over US films, because Koreans have a sense of nationalist pride.
Sixth generation filmmakers
During the press conference in late April when Huayi Brothers released their new film plan for the second half of 2012 and 2013, director Feng Xiaogang pinned his hope on the sixth generation.
Feng said a group of young directors would help dissipate the dominance of Hollywood blockbusters, and he hoped they would succeed.
When the young directors first debuted, China was undergoing a series of economic changes. The sixth generation directors inherited a different industry and society. With little experience and recognition, they were unable to compete with the reputation set by the revered fifth generation in mainstream cinemas.
They relied on luck and talent, producing underground hits. Lack of capital became one of the biggest problems sixth generation directors encountered.
The Days, a 1993 film directed by Wang Xiaoshuai, started with 100,000 yuan ($15,820) that Wang collected. Zhang Yuan's Mama cost 200,000 yuan to produce, while Jia Zhangke's Xiao Wu cost 300,000 yuan.
But though Zhang's Mama only sold three copies in China, it screened in over 100 international film festivals, and received a number of awards at the Locarno International Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and Edinburgh International Film Festival. Jia's Xiao Wu and Platform also received numerous awards in international film festivals.
Sixth generation directors have gone through fast economic and societal changes, relying on their talents and perseverance. Awards from international film festivals have earned these directors a great deal of cultural capital.
Box office rewards
While the debut of young directors brings hope to Chinese audiences, box office results prove different. According to statistics from China Film South Cinema Circuit, a leading film distributor in the country, Battleship earned 7.6 million yuan at the box office, and Titanic earned 7.45 million yuan in Guangzhou, from April 29 to May 1.
In comparison, Ning Hao's Guns and Roses, which ranked third, received 3.58 million yuan. An Inaccurate Memoir, directed by Yang Shupeng, and Design of Death, directed by Guan Hu, made under 1 million yuan.
Audience feedback is lukewarm for both films.
For some moviegoers, the idea of helping Chinese films surpasses the actual content of movies. Buying a ticket for domestic films functions as a cry of nationalistic pride.
Some netizens equate the act of buying tickets to doing charity. But movies cannot survive by relying on donations alone.
The lackluster film quality must improve. A netizen, under the username Hello Yuanniuniu, said that after watching Guns and Roses, she would be critical of domestic reviews of films in the future, as they are unreliable.
Movie critic Wang Siwei said, "I am a fervent supporter of domestic films. The dissatisfaction lies not only with the low quality of films but the dishonest reviews, which cheats the audience."
"When a new film comes out, there are few critical voices. Almost everyone praises them," Wang said.
"In the past two decades, many films produced domestically copied Hong Kong and Hollywood movies. Now is the chance for China to build its own industry," said Xu Haofeng, a professor at Beijing Film Academy.
But sixth generation directors, who made a name for themselves with art films, now have the tough job of catering to both the alternative and the mainstream audience.
"They are still on their way trying to [combine both]," Xu said.
"On one hand, audiences think that Chinese movies should not [copy] Hollywood, but on the other hand, most audiences evaluate Chinese movies with a Hollywood standard," Xu said.