Chinese producer Feng Xiaogang said the unpopularity of Chinese films in the overseas market concerns an overall ‘lack of credibility’ prevalent in China.
"We (filmmakers) always think we are significant, but actually we are not. We live in a nation full of fraudulences: fake dairy powder, cheating in the football games, fabricated box office figures and piracy," Feng said Jun. 17 at the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF).
Filmmakers including Feng Xiaogang (R 3) join a forum held on Jun. 17 during the Shanghai International Film Festival. [Mtime.com]
The forum focused on how to attract overseas audiences to Chinese films. Opinions from the panelists, which included film directors He Ping, Feng Xiaogang and playwright Liu Zhenyun diverged greatly.
He, a veteran filmmaker from Shanxi, said, "Because of the Hollywood filmmakers' capabilities in capturing the audience all over the world, their films are able to make an overwhelming expansion worldwide. On the contrary, Chinese filmmakers are only competent in filming their stories for domestic audience."
Feng apparently disagreed with He's point though he expressed it implicitly. "Hollywood filmmakers never care whether they are understood among Chinese audience; instead, they take the US audience as their only target."
Liu, a long-time collaborator with Feng and playwright, blamed the Chinese people's myopia for the lackluster of Chinese films.
"What the Chinese people lack is not money, but rather a manner of farsightedness," he said. "We have repeatedly split apart new roads for repair usually only one year after their completion. Besides, most of the bridges we are using are [safe to use] for no more than 20 years. This attitudes reflect [Chinese people’s attitudes] towards real life."
The forum was held a day after filmmaker Feng, known for his genius in shooting comedies with indigenous deadpan humor, promoted his second epic tragedy "1942" at the SIFF. The film is named for the first year of chronic famine which afflicted the people in Henan. His first tragic film was "Aftershock", a recount of the Tangshan Earthquake of 1976.