2018年CRI UK filmmakers join art-house film promotions at Beijing film festival

 

Chinese and international filmmakers are now working closely to try to find ways of better promoting art-house films in China, suggesting the niche¹ genre² has a lot of potential in the world's second-largest entertainment market.

Katie Ellen is Senior Manager for Distribution and Commercial Strategy with the British Film Institute. She's currently in Beijing for an art-house film promotion³ forum⁴, which has been held as part of the 8th Beijing International Film Festival.

"I've been to China every year for the last five years; and five years ago, we really didn't see much about art-house film. No one was talking about it, and we didn't really see much of opportunity for how U.K. art-house film might reach Chinese audiences. This year, everything is different, and I'm delighted to see this panel and to see everyone talking so enthusiastically about how art-house film can be seen by Chinese audiences. Working with the National Film Archive and understanding about how their art-house alliance is taking film around China and the vast audience here is incredibly exciting."

China's National Art-house Film Alliance was launched in October 2016. The Beijing-based China Film Archive is leading the alliance, which has chosen 100 cinemas in 31 major cities across the country to screen art-house films. Through the deal the alliance has struck, all 100 cinemas have guaranteed they will screen art-house films at least three times a day and 10 times per week at peak times.

Online ticketing platform Taopiaopiao is a new member of this alliance. Jerry Li Jie is President of Taopiaopiao. He says social media is going to play a big role in helping⁵ reach potential audience members for these special films. 

"Art-house films, often, have a small but concentrated fan base. The best promotion around an art-house film, in my opinion, is spreading its reputation by word of mouth. This way, new media and social media become the most effective platforms for building its reputation. Since an art-house film is usually a low-budget film, it doesn't necessarily cost a big sum of money in doing promotions⁶."

Katie Ellen with the BFI is leading a thirteen-member delegation⁷ from the U.K. film industry to this year's film festival in Beijing. She says some of the delegates, who are talented producers and who have made some of the best films in the UK, need to better understand how the Chinese film industry works.

"We have also worked closely with them in bringing classic British films to Chinese audiences including Shakespeare and Hitchcock; and again, this is not something that we would have imagined could have happened. So what we did is baby steps. We feel the art-house film in China is developing and taking lessons from the rest of the world, but also now, we are understanding better how specially⁸ social media can be used and taken in art-house films to wider audiences. That's something, that China, I think, takes a lead."

Discussing the future for art-house films, Lu Wei, Founder⁹ and CEO of Skyfilm, says he's optimistic. 

"Art-house films can be connected with tourism. An art-house film usually has deep involvement with local communities and local culture. It would be a lot better if we can associate an art-house film with local tourism. The Ministry¹⁰ of Culture and the China National Tourism Administration have merged¹¹ to form the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. This gives us a good, new direction."

Statistics from a survey conducted by Taopiaopiao show that around 60 percent of art-house film viewers are female. And 60 percent of them are young adults aged¹² between 20 and 29. The survey has also found that around 70 percent of the audience base for art-house films come from Beijing and Shanghai. Li Jie says this shows there is still a lot of work left to get the art-house film concept to the rest of China.

"The bad news is that art-house film remains¹³ unfamiliar¹⁴ to the residents of the third and fourth-tier cities. This, on the other hand, indicates big development potential in these cities. If people in these cities are willing to go to the cinema for an art-house film, the box office is really something we can start to bank on."

Li Jie says Taopiaopiao is planning to invest around 300 million yuan into the production and promotion of 20 different art-house films in China over the next three years.

1 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

2 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

3 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 promotions   

促进( promotion的名词复数 )； 提升； 推广； 宣传

参考例句：

• All services or promotions must have an appeal and wide application. 所有服务或促销工作都必须具有吸引力和广泛的适用性。
• He promptly directed the highest promotions and decorations for General MacArthur. 他授予麦克阿瑟将军以最高的官阶和勋奖。

7 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

8 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

12 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。