Domestic documentaries enter the "blockbuster era" to witness five years of hard work

Use light and shadow to record China, communicate with the world, show China's development and progress, tell the world the China Dream, and let the world understand vivid and interesting China stories-China documentaries have a sacred mission and a long way to go.

At the beginning of this year, when the documentary "Aerial Photography of China" was broadcast on CCTV's comprehensive channel, it attracted the attention of the audience and attracted enthusiastic comments. Some viewers commented on this documentary-"Every frame is so beautiful that I want to sing about the motherland."

"Aerial Photography of China"

In recent years, excellent documentaries such as "On the Bite of China","I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City","Materia Medica China","Remembering Nostalgia" and "The Third Pole" have set off a wave of ratings craze. The "China Documentary Development Research Report 2017" released at this year's Beijing International Film Festival shows that in 2016, the total annual investment in documentary production in China was 3.42 billion yuan, and the total output value exceeded 5.2 billion yuan, with year-on-year growth of more than 10%. After a short time, the 23rd Shanghai TV Festival also showed signs: domestic documentaries into the "blockbuster era."

The summer of domestic documentaries has arrived.

In 2012, the sudden popularity of the documentary "A Bite of China" attracted people's attention to domestic documentaries. In many important international film and television festivals and film exhibitions such as the 2013 Asian Television Festival, the European Sunshine Television Festival and the 2014 Cannes Television Festival,"A Bite of China 2" was sold before it was broadcast. More than 30 overseas institutions, including Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Australia, Belgium, and Spain, followed up the purchase. South Korea, Thailand, the United States, Russia and other countries even saw competition among multiple institutions in one country. On August 8 this year, the long-prepared "A Bite of China 3" was officially launched... The phenomenon of "A Bite of China" has become the most worthy case in the field of documentary films in China, and it also reflects the rapid development of domestic documentaries. Liu Ke, a researcher at the China Documentary Research Center of Communication University of China, said: "Documentary films are gradually reaching the public and entering the public era. Some people even assert that China documentaries are 'strongly rising.'"

A few years later, when people were thinking about how to develop China documentaries in the post-"Bite of China" era, a number of excellent domestic documentaries such as "I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City" sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain. They were not only broadcast on TV, but also became an "Internet celebrity", temporarily supporting half of the sky for the "traffic responsibility" of video websites.

"I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City"

Looking back on 2016, the documentaries "Road to Building Dreams" and "Long March" focused on the glorious history of party and military history and became the backbone of major theme publicity;"I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City" and "A Great Meal" Works such as "The Power of Nature" have attracted the attention of young people and become the annual "Internet celebrity dramas";"Belt and Road" and "Super Projects" reflect major national strategies and major projects;"Materia Medica China" explores the cultural value of traditional Chinese medicine and has become a masterpiece of documentary films that promotes China's excellent traditional culture;"Human World" focuses on the value of life and builds a communication bridge for harmony between doctors and patients... The themes of China documentaries are becoming increasingly diverse, and the quality of their works has been significantly improved. Some works have triggered a wave of ratings on TV screens and even entered theaters. Some works have caught up with the international production level and attracted the attention of the international documentary market.

"The emergence of high-quality films is an important symbol of the prosperity and development of domestic documentaries. In the past, it was great to have one or two well-known works every year. Now, more than a dozen works attract public heated discussion every year." He Suliu, a professor at Communication University of China, lamented that the development of domestic documentaries is booming.

This year, at the first West Lake International Documentary Conference, Gao Changli, director of the Propaganda and Management Department of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said: "Don't complain that audiences don't like to watch documentaries, so documentaries cannot enter theaters, and don't dare to broadcast it during prime time on satellite TV. As long as it is good and broadcast in prime time, the audience will still like it. Now that documentaries are becoming popular, the directors of major satellite TV stations have expressed their intention to broadcast documentaries during prime time. The summer of documentaries is indeed here."

"Remember Nostalgia"

reality-themed documentaries have attracted much attention.

China TV documentaries developed rapidly in the 1990s and formed the first peak of China TV documentaries in the new era. The realistic style is an important factor in its outstanding characteristics and success. However, in recent years, most high-quality reality-themed works have appeared sporadically and rarely in batches, which has become a shortcoming and regret in the current development of documentaries in China.

Fortunately, since last year, reality-themed documentaries have attracted much attention, and some documentaries have also triggered phenomenon-level discussions. The concentrated appearance of reality-themed documentaries "I Come from Xinjiang","The World of Humanity","Life","It's Better to Dance" and "Our Youth" reflects the new achievements of China documentaries in reality-themed themes. "I Come from Xinjiang" shows the real experiences of 18 outstanding Xinjiang people who left Xinjiang to work hard in other provinces;"Human World" shows the audience a true state of the world by observing hospitals, a specimen concentrated in social contradictions;"Shengmen" tells the stories of the various tests experienced by four pregnant women and their families during the hospital's delivery process, as well as the stories and thoughts about life and survival behind them;"Our Youth" uses lenses to record the youth stories of a group of young Communist Party members born in the 1980s and 1990s.

"Documentary films are moving from niche to the public, and there are more and more works with realistic themes. Audiences can not only learn about knowledge and history from the films, but also see topics closely related to current life." Zhao Jie, secretary-general of the Documentary Working Committee of the China Broadcasting Alliance, said. Last year, the documentary "The World of the World" gained popularity because it truly showed the medical problems that everyone encounters.

"In recent years, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has been vigorously promoting the creation of realistic documentaries that reflect the struggle stories of China and show the spiritual outlook of China, using the face of China to show the development and progress of the country, and using the struggle stories of China to promote the theme of the China Dream." The relevant person in charge of the Propaganda and Management Department of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television told reporters that this year, in addition to organizing the creation of a large-scale political commentary film "Don't forget the original intention and move forward", the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television also carefully planned "Our Five Years" and "The Field of Hope: A number of reality-themed documentaries such as "The Bank of Lalin River","Poverty Alleviation" and "Expression of China" record the tremendous changes that have taken place in China in the past five years in their current ongoing form and from the perspective of ordinary China. Through the sense of gain and happiness of ordinary people, they vividly explain the new concepts, new ideas and new strategies of the Party Central Committee's governance with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.

"Super Project"

allows the world to understand the story of China.

The documentary bears the responsibility of disseminating national image, international cultural exchanges, and inheriting history and culture. In recent years, China documentaries have become a new hot spot in international communication and exchanges. In 2016, CCTV launched the documentary "Belt and Road". The macro and micro perspectives complement each other and become a representative work of documentary images participating in national strategies, domestic and international communication. After the film was broadcast, authoritative media at home and abroad responded enthusiastically. Currently,"Belt and Road" has been translated into more than a dozen foreign languages and broadcast overseas.

In recent years, the domestic documentary "Third Pole" has been purchased by the National Geographic Channel and broadcast on its television networks covering more than 200 countries and regions around the world. This documentary telling the story of man and nature on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has exquisite pictures and true stories, and has been warmly welcomed by overseas audiences. The documentary "A Bite of China" produced and broadcast by CCTV covers more than 100 countries and regions, and most viewers around the world can "feast their eyes." Many foreign viewers made a special trip to China after watching the program, not only to "taste" the delicacies on the land of China in the picture, but also to "taste" the profound and profound Chinese culture. In 2014,"Super Engineering" launched by CCTV Record Channel was broadcast on Discovery Channel in Italy, and gained good reputation locally. This autumn,"Super Engineering" will continue to be broadcast on this channel for the second season... These excellent domestic documentaries that are "applauded and popular" are shining business cards for China.

Liang Hong, director of CCTV's Recording Channel, believes: "Joint filming is the main way for China documentaries to enter international mainstream platforms for broadcast. In recent years, through cooperation with major foreign media organizations, China documentaries have entered international mainstream communication channels, telling the story of China well and conveying mainstream values." Over the past six years, CCTV Record Channel has launched 23 international co-filming projects with a total duration of more than 80 hours. The upcoming documentary "Greater Pacific" by CCTV Record Channel is a large-scale production about the Pacific Ocean's marine ecological resources co-produced with the American Public Television Platform (PBS), the Natural History Company of New Zealand (NHNZ), and the German Television 2 (ZDF).

Li

Lan, director of the Policy and Information Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said: "In today's world, many countries, including China, are focusing on strengthening the construction of their own cultural soft power and the external dissemination of national strategies. To a certain extent, the voice and context of documentaries in external exchanges are relatively objective and more international communication characteristics."

At the same time, documentaries have also become an important unit in various film screenings and television festival activities around the world. The Beijing International Film Festival has set up a special documentary unit since 2014; the Shanghai International Film Festival has a documentary screening unit and awarded the Golden Medal Award for Best Documentary for Outstanding Films; The Cannes Film Festival in France also has a documentary unit screening... In September this year, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and the People's Government of Gansu Province will co-host the China (Jiayuguan) International Short Film Exhibition, focusing on excellent documentaries that "promote China's excellent traditional culture" and conduct a series of creative seminars with outstanding documentary representatives at home and abroad to deeply discuss the creative models of such works. At the same time, the 12 outstanding works that were finally selected will be commended.

After a hundred years of light and shadow, spring is warm and flowers are blooming. China's documentary industry, after experiencing a sprout in spring, has ushered in a summer of vitality and luxuriant branches, and will surely develop further. Use light and shadow to record China, communicate with the world, show China's development and progress, tell the world the China Dream, and let the world understand vivid and interesting China stories-China documentaries have a sacred mission and a long way to go.

Editor: Xiongwei