图说:‘Since you choose to do it, you have to endure the restrictions,’said Cai Shangjun.
The prosperity of Chinese film market is so obvious during the ongoing Shanghai International Film Festival. As an international jury of the Golden Goblet Award, Cai Shangjun said that, about 70 to 80 percent of the topics at the film festival are about the carnival of capital. In his opinion, it’s a good thing that Chinese Film industry is rich in money, but how to use the money is a problem. There’s still far from enough space for art-house films and other minority films to survive as usual. As for this question, they need support from both the government and insiders of the film industry themselves.
Art-house Films Should Be Provided with Space to Survive
Although many art-house films and projects emerged during the Shanghai International Film Festival this year, compared with feature films, art-house films and other films of minority genres are still on the edge of the thriving Chinese film market. Speaking of such a phenomenon, Cai thought art-house films should be provided with space to survive. “We need films of different genres, so that the audiences can have more choices.”
Cai thought Chinese art-house films and minority films are still with weak audience base. As for the reason, he said, “Weak audience base is related to our education, and environment of the entire society. We may still need 10 years to nurture this market. We people in this generation should serve as paving stones, and we’re under the process of developing.”
A Screenwriter Should Move Himself First
For expanding broader space for art-house films and minority films, besides investors, the choice and persistence of insiders of the film industry themselves also play important roles. In Cai’s opinion, a good film should make distinctive expressions, and has its own point of view about the world. “You’re not forced to shoot such a film. Since you choose to do it, you have to endure the restrictions. But there’ll always be audiences able to understand the idea your film trying to talk about.”
As a former screenwriter, Cai also talked about the current situation of screenwriting in China. He believed Chinese screenwriters still needed to work hard to be more professional. “A truly good screenwriter should get hold of all fundamentals and regular patterns at first. Only after he accumulates enough experience and feelings can he write good script. You should never try to flatter your audience. All you can do is get your job done well. Before you can make other people moved, you have to move yourself.”