Mao Yu, Deputy Director of the Film Bureau of the Publicity Department, speaks at the forum. Official photo provided
Distinguished Minister Lu Bao, esteemed guests, comrades, and friends:
Good morning!
The 7th "New Forces of Chinese Cinema Forum" is being held as scheduled during the Changchun Film Festival. First and foremost, I would like to extend warm congratulations on this forum on behalf of the Film Bureau of the Publicity Department! A heartfelt welcome to all the attending guests! I would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the co-organizer, the China Film Art Research Center, and the organizer, the Jilin Provincial Propaganda Department (Film Bureau)!
This July, the 20th Central Committee of the Party convened its third plenary session successfully. The plenary session emphasized the critical role of culture in the overall modernization, urging us to consciously assume our new cultural mission, committed to the construction of modern civilization for the Chinese nation, and provided a guiding direction for the reform and development in the film sector. The film industry must earnestly implement these directives. This year also marks the tenth anniversary of General Secretary Xi Jinping presiding over a symposium on literary and artistic work and delivering a significant speech. Over the past decade, under the strong guidance of Xi Jinping’s cultural thoughts and the long-standing concern of the General Secretary and the Central Committee, Chinese cinema has grown amidst reform and flourished in competition, writing a vivid chapter in the history of film development. In order to summarize and implement the practical experiences from General Secretary Xi's important speech at the symposium, and to push the Chinese film industry from a “plateau” to a “peak,” with the approval of the ministry leadership, we have once again convened the "New Forces of Chinese Cinema Forum" to invite everyone to collectively reflect on experiences, analyze challenges, share insights, and plan for the future. The theme of this forum is: Inheritance·Innovation·Pragmatism — Film and Audience Together. We hope to closely align with the era's demands for deepening reforms and advancing high-quality development in cinema, exploring how Chinese filmmakers, particularly the youth in Chinese cinema, can uphold integrity while innovating and boldly forging ahead to contribute to building a strong film nation.
Since the beginning of this year, the film industry has made strides in advancing new box office records during the New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Qingming, and May Day releases. However, we are keenly aware that there remains a significant gap between Chinese cinema and the expectations of a broad audience, and we must recognize the potential crises. Since entering the summer film season, despite around a hundred films entering the market, the market performance has sounded alarm bells for us. Compared to the same period last year, audience numbers and box office sales have dropped by 22%, highlighting profound and structural issues within Chinese cinema. It can be said that the crisis has arrived, and change is urgent.
We must recognize that the supply of products in Chinese cinema is still inadequate, with high-quality content being scarce. High-quality, diverse, and particularly large-scale productions that reflect the film industry’s technological level are still few, which does not meet audience demands. We must also acknowledge that there is a severe shortage of creative talent in Chinese cinema. For a country with a population of 1.4 billion, the number of influential screenwriters, directors, and producers is limited, which is grossly inconsistent with a content-driven industry; we must realize that Chinese film enterprises remain weak, and there is still a long way to go for firms that possess complete industrial chains, detailed professional divisions of labor, robust distribution networks, strong financial backing, risk resistance, and cultural influence; we must be aware that the market system for Chinese cinema urgently needs improvement, as diversified films with moderate budgets still struggle to find their respective audiences. Most cinemas are accustomed to waiting for customers instead of proactively reaching out to serve and engage the surrounding audience, and targeted distribution strategies are still in a wait-and-see mode. Furthermore, the entire industry overly relies on box office revenues; we must recognize that audience attendance in Chinese cinemas is still declining, and the issue of young audiences distancing themselves from cinemas has not been effectively addressed. The film industry must be fully aware that today’s competition is not merely between film enterprises; rather, it requires mutual encouragement and unity to compete against various entertainment forms such as short videos, online games, live streaming, vertical screen dramas, and virtual reality tourism experiences. It is about how to share the beauty of cinema while people enjoy traveling in nature or savoring late-night snacks with friends; we must also understand that the development environment for Chinese cinema is becoming increasingly complex, with heightened impacts from online public opinions. In an era where everyone can be a media outlet, the phenomenon of every viewer having their interpretation becomes more pronounced. Emotional expressions in film criticism have become sharper, necessitating that the films we produce withstand scrutiny from countless eyes, requiring us to respect the voices of our audience, and to view their perspectives with calmness, rationality, and equality.
Faced with the intertwining new and old issues, what should we do? Precisely because there are no ready-made answers, we convened the new forces forum, hoping that the sparks from our exchanges can illuminate a brighter future for cinema, igniting more vigor for progress with innovative postures!
First, we need good films.
Good films require good stories. Good stories provide spiritual solace as we navigate life’s dilemmas and questions, helping us understand the world, explore ourselves, resonate emotionally, and find hope and courage. Stories have accompanied humanity from the tales shared around campfires to the cutting-edge experiences of virtual reality films today. They are an indispensable spiritual nourishment and the cultural force that leads the world. So far, our cinemas have lost 200 million viewers compared to last year. I believe it is not that they no longer love films; it is that our films have not fulfilled their need for meaningful storytelling. We have the world's most professional and tolerant audience; they encourage and vote for the small advancements in Chinese cinema through box office results! They are the “tap water” of Chinese cinema! If they didn’t love films, why are there still excellent box office numbers for films like "Hot and Spicy", "Riding the Wave 2", "Claw Machine", "The Twentieth Line", and "Boonie Bears 10" this year? If their affection were shallow, why do we see a stream of trending topics about films on Weibo and Douyin? Ultimately, what we are missing is simply good cinema! Therefore, we hope that the new forces of Chinese cinema return to the roots of film, starting from stories, to uncover more narratives worth telling that audiences are eager to see, diligently mastering the art and craft of storytelling through cinema, and sincerely infusing an understanding of the fundamental values of life into these stories. We are pleased to see that the top Chinese films in the box office ranking have succeeded precisely because they tell good stories and effectively combine mainstream values with commercial types! This should be the direction for the efforts of the new forces of Chinese cinema!
Second, we need creative innovation.
Film itself is a product of innovation, and for over a hundred years, it has continuously evolved in form and language alongside technological advancements. Now, the era of artificial intelligence has arrived, and AI's role in content creation, virtual filming, and visual effects in the film industry is becoming apparent. Moreover, the immersive and interactive experiences of virtual reality films have, thanks to expansions in gaming, moved from being a medium to the cusp of artistic expression, laying the groundwork for new forms of cinema and a closer connection with younger audiences. We are excited to see "The King's Avatar" adopting AI-generated animation techniques for the first time, presenting a uniquely stylized "real animated" visual effect on the big screen, bringing new inspiration for the reciprocal learning and blending of live-action and animated films in the future. We are also delighted to see that Chen Sicheng's team has stepped out of familiar comfort zones with "Deciphering," continuing industrial exploration in aspects of film language, genre storytelling, visual styles, and production standards. This adventurous pursuit of dreams requires courage, sincerity, as well as responsibility and confidence! We are thrilled to observe younger teams like Li Yang’s "Evacuation from 21st Century" with its unique narrative logic and time-space transitions, impressive visual compositions and color usages, soft sci-fi appeal, and boundless imagination captivating young audiences, revealing new possibilities for film. We hope that the new forces of Chinese cinema will leverage your innate strengths, approach your work with confidence, dare to imagine boldly, take proactive steps, and drive creative innovation, working hard to adapt to and satisfy the demands of the new generation of film audiences.
Third, we need industrial transformation.
Chinese cinema has traversed from box office figures of less than 1 billion in the early 2000s to today’s national success through the indomitable reform spirit of filmmakers, discarding the notion that "film is a sunset industry" into the Pacific Ocean. For the entire industry to emerge from its current predicament and regain respect and admiration, it still requires motivation from reform and vitality from openness. Each segment of the industrial chain must discard the passive “wait and rely” mindset and drive change through proactive progress. Reform when it is challenging yields strong motivation; when safe and comfortable, innovation inevitably falls prey to complacency. We hope that the new forces of Chinese cinema, and all practitioners in the film industry, face the transformative changes in the cinema more positively, utilizing modern, industrialized, and technological concepts to systematically restructure the film creation process, refine the categories of production work, promote collaboration among professional teams, and employ modern management concepts to coordinate the entire production chain, thereby enhancing project quality and production efficiency. By adopting market-compliant philosophies, we can change the existing market inefficiencies that hinder the development of the film industry, inspire proactive engagement from producers, distributors, and exhibitors through targeted distribution, allowing films to find the cinemas that suit them, encouraging cinemas to seek audiences with shared interests, and ensuring that diverse content finds its rightful place, completely eliminating the “one-size-fits-all” release strategies and the “boiling frogs in warm water” approaches in the market.
Fourth, we need a global perspective.
China has unique advantages in filmmaking, with a rich and profound cultural heritage and an endless reservoir of storytelling material; we have a market that makes filmmakers around the world envious: 1.4 billion viewers, 14,000 theaters, and 88,000 screens provide a cradle for the birth of great works. Following the pandemic, we have engaged in extensive and profound exchanges with foreign filmmakers, deeply understanding the insufficiency of films in theaters worldwide and the yearning for quality content. We hope the new forces of Chinese cinema can leverage your natural advantages cultivated during the rapid global economic integration to better bridge language and cultural barriers, excel in learning from the excellent cultural achievements created by nations worldwide, nourish your own creation, and then integrate into the world, distributing beautiful Chinese stories to far-flung lands and allowing more international audiences to experience the unique sentiments and charm of Chinese culture.
Fifth, we need to share the mission.
This year’s summer film season is about to conclude, and during these three months, we have experienced anticipation and joy, alongside disappointments and tears, which have revealed our shortcomings. The New Forces Forum serves not just as a stage for young creators to express themselves but as a platform for the film industry to gather strength and collaborate for development. We are pleased to see major production companies join us, and we hope they will better shoulder the responsibility of advancing the Chinese film industry, nurturing new talent, and providing them with more opportunities to showcase their skills and create surprises as they take their first steps in their careers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Xi'an Film Group, Enlight Pictures, Ru Yi, Maoyan, Alibaba, Lianrui, Hengdian, and other companies for their pragmatic plans in cultivating young creative talents; thanks to innovative companies like Bad Monkey, Seven Impressions, Yitong, Dream General, which have established comparatively mature talent discovery and cultivation systems; gratitude to the Directors Association's Green Plan; and thanks to the Golden Rooster Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, Beijing International Film Festival, FIRST Film Festival, Pingyao Film Festival, and others for their dedication to discovering and nurturing young filmmakers; thanks to Hengdian and Guangzhou for building platforms for small and medium-budget film transactions. Most importantly, we hope that new talents can quickly integrate into major production companies’ ecosystems. After completing their auteur films, they can swiftly transition into creating films that resonate more broadly with audiences, drawing inspiration from the changes in the times, the advancements of China, and the calls of the people, refining themes and extracting topics by deeply engaging with life and observing the era, uncovering hot issues, conflicts, and the brilliance of human nature within social realities, moving from the individual to the collective, and writing grand Chinese stories.
Comrades and friends! The New Forces of Chinese Cinema have traversed a decade. Over these ten years, we are encouraged to witness the growth and emergence of these new forces as the backbone of Chinese cinema. Today, Chinese cinema stands once again at a new historical starting point. Faced with difficulties and challenges, opportunities and hopes, we have every reason to believe that the new forces of Chinese cinema will transform youthful vigor into a tremendous driving force for reform and innovation, living up to the times and the people, forging a new glory for Chinese cinema in the historical process of building a cultural powerhouse!
Finally, I wish the "New Forces of Chinese Cinema Forum" great success! Thank you, everyone!
