Chinese filmmakers open the door to "BRICS films" Deputy Director Zhang Hongsen delivered a speech

The BRICS Film Festival has set up a stage for artists from all over the world to show their style, and is also an important mechanism for learning from each other and enlightening wisdom. It not only brings inspiration to improving the country's film creation level, but also makes unique contributions to the development of the diversity of world film culture.

2017 is the BRICS "Year of China." Our country took over the chairmanship of the BRICS countries and will hold the ninth BRICS Leaders 'Meeting in Xiamen in September. The "2017 China Chengdu·BRICS Film Festival" is one of the series of activities of this meeting. On June 23, the press conference for the BRICS Film Festival's China Film Day was held in Chengdu. Members of the official China film delegation completed the launching ceremony in front of the "BRICS Film Gate."

On the same day, Zhang Hongsen, deputy director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, Zhang Pimin, vice president of China Federation of Radio, Film and Television Social Organizations, Zhou Jiandong, deputy inspector of the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, La Peikang, chairman of China Film Corporation, Cao Yin, director of the Film Channel Program Production Center of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, Han Mei, chairman of Emei Film Group, directors Han Sanping, Jia Zhangke, and Lu Chuan attended the conference as guests.

Zhang Hongsen, deputy director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, delivered a speech at the press conference as the head of the official film delegation of China, introducing the characteristics of this BRICS Film Festival."This BRICS Film Festival is for the first time for each country to set up a special film day to comprehensively display the film culture of BRICS countries, giving more audiences the opportunity to experience the diversity and unique charm of BRICS culture." In recent years, China's film market has developed rapidly. Zhang Hongsen also shared a set of latest official data at the event: As of now, the number of film screens in my country has exceeded 45,000. Compared with 2012, an average of 19 new screens have been added every day. This means that China has not only surpassed the United States to become the country with the most movie screens, but also surpassed the North American film market of the United States + Canada.

Regarding the recent slowdown in box office growth, Zhang Hongsen said that returning from a high speed to normal speed is an inevitable trend for development to a certain stage. He also emphasized the contradictions and problems faced by China films: The number of excellent film works still cannot meet market demand, the degree of specialization of investment entities is not high, the construction of the film market system is large and extensive, the lack of targeted and refined focus strategies, and the problems of leaking and concealing box office and piracy still seriously interfere with the market. The problems of healthy development and low systematization of the film industry still need to be solved urgently.

In the face of these pressures and challenges, Zhang Hongsen believes that strengthening international cooperation and exchanges is an important way for China film to accelerate its development and strengthen its strength."President Xi Jinping has put forward important initiatives to carry out people-to-people exchanges and consolidate the public opinion base in his letter to other BRICS leaders to introduce China's vision of promoting BRICS cooperation. Movies are an important carrier for people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, and an emotional link that enhances mutual understanding among people of various countries and promotes the integration and mutual learning of different civilizations. The BRICS Film Festival has set up a stage for artists from all over the world to show their style. It is also an important mechanism for learning from each other, enlightening wisdom, and deepening cooperation."

After the press conference, guests of the official film delegation of China came to the "BRICS Film Gate." The film gate is composed of five colors, symbolizing the culture of the five BRICS countries. The door is also installed in the permanent motion device, and the guests jointly completed the activation of the permanent motion device on the spot, symbolizing the endless cultural exchanges between countries.

It is reported that the opening ceremony of the 2017 China Chengdu BRICS Film Festival will be held on the evening of the 23rd.

Attachment: Speech by Zhang Hongsen at the press conference on the China Day of the BRICS Film Festival

Dear guests and friends from the news media circles:

Good morning everyone!

Welcome everyone to the press conference of the BRICS Film Festival's China Film Day. The "2017 China Chengdu BRICS Film Festival" kicked off in the beautiful Chengdu City. Filmmakers from all over the world gathered in the land of abundance with a long history, wealth and beauty to seek common development strategies and talk about peace and friendship. First of all, on behalf of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of China and the China film delegation participating in this film festival, I would like to extend my heartfelt greetings and sincere thanks to film colleagues from all over the world, guests and friends in the news media industry!

For the first time, this BRICS Film Festival has set up a special film day for each country. It aims to comprehensively showcase the country's excellent films and unique national cultures to the audience, and through this novel way to enhance the audience's understanding of BRICS countries. As the host country of this BRICS Film Festival, China has carefully selected outstanding films from different periods to participate in the exhibition, showing the development achievements of China's film reform and innovation to the audience, and using the first National Film Day event as a prelude to the film festival. We feel honored and proud to kick off.

In recent years, under the guidance of the Party's literary and artistic policy, and through the diligent efforts of film workers, China films have become one of the most active and influential literary and artistic styles in China today, a hot spot of public opinion, the main content of the people's daily cultural life, and a good situation of healthy and rapid development.

In terms of creation and production, film productivity has been fully released, and excellent works continue to emerge. The film industry continues to deepen reforms, stimulate endogenous motivation, and greatly activate the enthusiasm of all sectors of society for participating in films. There are nearly 2000 investment entities in film production, and more than 500 companies have sustained venture capital capabilities. From 2012 to 2016, on average, it produces about 700 film feature films every year, ranking among the top three in the world. Among them, films such as "The Battle of the Hundred Regiments","Warrior","Taking Tiger Mountain with Wisdom","Wolf Totem","Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty" and "Operation Mekong River" promote the core socialist values, sing the China Dream, publicize the mainstream spirit, and demonstrate the power of the times. It is a prominent highlight of film creation in recent years; In the face of increasingly fierce cultural competition, China films adhere to a people-centered creative orientation, regard "improving quality and efficiency" as a key task, and continuously consolidate and improve the creation and production pattern of multiple types, diversification, and varieties. High-box office films such as "Mermaid","Demon Hunt" and "Lost in Thailand", art films such as "Fireworks in the Sky" and "Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix", animated films such as "Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage" and "Big Fish Begonia", show The inexhaustible innovative vitality of China films.

In terms of market development, the box office scale has grown rapidly, and an infrastructure construction boom has emerged. In recent years, my country's movie box office has increased at an average annual net increase of 10 billion yuan. In 2016, the total national movie box office was 49.283 billion yuan, and the number of people watching movies in urban theaters was 1.372 billion. The average annual compound growth rate based on 2012 reached 30.35% and 30.99%, becoming the world's second largest film market and the main engine for the development of the global film market; So far, the number of movie screens in my country has exceeded 45,000. Compared with 2012, an average of 19 new screens have been added every day, surpassing the United States to become the country with the largest number of movie screens; in 2015, my country achieved full coverage of digital cinemas in county-level cities. The projection system with balanced layout of large, medium and small cities makes the market structure more reasonable.

In the process of scientific and technological innovation and industrialization, China's scientific and technological innovation achievements with independent intellectual property rights such as giant screens, laser projection, and multi-dimensional sound reproduction systems have been widely used, creating a new situation for catching up with the world's film science and technology development level; The film industry system with the framework of China Film (Huairou) Digital Film Base, Shanghai Chedun Film and Television Base, Wuxi Film and Television Industrial Park, Hengdian Film and Television Industry Experimental Zone, and Qingdao Oriental Film Capital has basically taken shape, and the film industrialization process has begun to take shape.

In terms of talent training, various methods such as the script incubation plan, the support for outstanding young film and drama plans, the Film Directors Association's "Green Green Plan", and overseas training carried out in cooperation with Hollywood have broken the traditional talent training mechanism. Driven by this, new forces in China's films have emerged. A large number of young new directors, new screenwriters, new actors, new producers, and new technical experts have gradually taken on the important responsibilities of film development, accumulating the most valuable talent resources for China films.

In terms of international cooperation and exchanges, the global distribution platform of "Chinese Films Putian" launched in 2016 has successfully connected with mainstream theaters in many countries such as Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania, and has gradually accumulated brand effects; Currently, the ten major brand film festivals, including China and the United States, China and Russia, China and France, China and Canada, China and Australia, China and Japan, China-Ten ASEAN Countries, and China-Sixteen Central and Eastern European Countries, continue to expand the international space of Chinese films; Film cooperation has gradually moved from exploration to maturity. At present, film co-production agreements have been signed with 18 countries. Film cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong and Taiwan has moved from an initial capital link to an all-round and deep integration of creativity and talents, focusing on Central Asia, China and the United States. International cooperation focusing on China and Europe has been extensively carried out. For example, director Lu Chuan's documentary "We were Born in China", which will be screened at the opening ceremony of China Film Day later, is a successful cooperation with Hollywood in the United States. The film shows China's unique charming natural and cultural landscape and presents China's aesthetic spirit to a global audience. The box office in the first week of its release in the United States reached US$6.43 million. The cumulative box office has reached US$13.78 million. It has achieved the ability to tell China stories well in a China way and spread China culture.

Of course, we have also seen that after years of rapid development, the growth rate of China films has slowed down. Returning from high speed to normal speed is an inevitable trend for development to a certain stage, but we are also deeply aware that the contradictions and problems faced by China films are still urgent. For example, the number of excellent film works still cannot meet the market demand, and the concept of film creation, especially the understanding of film industrialization and modernity, needs to be changed urgently; talent training and team building still lag behind industrial development, and the degree of specialization of investment entities is not high; The construction of the film market system is large and extensive, and there is a lack of targeted and detailed focus strategies; concealment of box office and piracy still seriously interfere with the healthy development of the market; The construction of the industrial chain is not perfect enough, and the post-film product development capabilities are relatively weak; the ideas of international communication are relatively solid and the means are not rich enough to effectively solve the problem of cultural differences and the construction of global distribution network channels; the film industry has a low degree of systematization, and it is important to high-tech The learning and practice ability needs to be improved.

Faced with these pressures and challenges, strengthening international cooperation and exchanges is an important way for China's films to accelerate the development and strengthen their strength. In a letter to other BRICS leaders introducing my country's ideas for promoting BRICS cooperation, President Xi Jinping put forward important initiatives to carry out people-to-people exchanges and consolidate the foundation of public opinion. Movies are an important carrier for people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, and an emotional link that enhances mutual understanding among people of various countries and promotes the integration and mutual learning of different civilizations. The BRICS Film Festival has set up a stage for artists from all over the world to show their style. It is also an important mechanism for learning from each other, enlightening wisdom, and deepening cooperation. We believe that in this kind of friendly, pragmatic and efficient cooperation and exchanges, filmmakers from all over the world will learn from each other's strengths and complement each other's needs, which will not only bring inspiration to improving the level of their own film creation, but also contribute to the diverse development of world film culture. unique contribution. The opening film of this year's film festival,"Where is the Time Gone", co-filmed by famous China director Jia Zhangke and film masters from other four countries, is the first co-produced film from BRICS countries. The film presents the different understandings and interpretations of directors from various countries facing the same cultural proposition. It also reflects the different emotional choices and life perceptions of people from various countries in the context of a community with a shared future for mankind.

In the journey of progress of human civilization, culture always plays a pioneer role. The National Film Day created by this film festival has the theme of "Different cultures, equally exciting". This is the mutual respect and common progress advocated by the BRICS cooperation mechanism. The spiritual continuation of progress further foreshadows a beautiful vision of cultural integration and people-to-people bonds.

Wish Chengdu, China in 2017. The BRICS Film Festival will be a complete success. I wish BRICS films prosperity and progress in cooperation and exchanges!

Thank you all!

Editor: jessica