Why Aren’t Chinese Films Travelling To International Festivals?
Chinese cinema is conspicuous by its absence at this year’s Cannes film festival, with only a few short films announced across the official selection and parallel sections. Directors Fortnight said last week that the Asian “surprise film” that it was hoping to announce, was a Chinese film, that it has now confirmed will not be ready in time for this year’s edition. Last year, there were also no Chinese films in Cannes main competition, although Wei Shujun’s Ripples of Life premiered in Directors Fortnight and Na Jiazuo’s Streetwise was selected by Un Certain Regard.
Li Ruijun’s soulful portrait of provincial China, Return To Dust, premiered at this year’s Berlin film festival and has since been sold widely by German sales agent M-Appeal. Rotterdam film festival has long been a supporter of new independent Chinese cinema, and this year screened Gao Linyang’s To Love Again. But overall, the number of Chinese films playing in major festivals has declined substantially over the past few years. Production has been on-going throughout the pandemic, so why the decrease?
The pandemic has undoubtedly been a factor, as China’s borders have been mostly closed since January 2020, making it difficult for festival programmers to visit the country and for filmmakers to travel and share their projects. But in this age of Zoom and online markets, it’s not an insurmountable factor.
In many territories, filmmakers and producers have been hesitant to premiere films at festivals that were postponing dates, moving online or being held as hybrid events, unsure of the impact such a premiere would have. There’s also been the question of what would happen after the festival, as cinemas have been closed intermittently in many territories, so it’s been difficult to time a theatrical release. But that’s less of an issue in China where, due to censorship and the lack of a specialist circuit, even big arthouse names like Zhang Yimou, Jia Zhangke and Lou Ye can’t always rely on securing a domestic release.
