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Lin Yun poses for photo shoot
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Cannes: Chinese-Backed U.K. Producer BB88 Unveils ‘GiantLand’
Young British outfit BB88 is one of the early beneficiaries of the ongoing diversification of the Chinese film industry.
That’s because, while the big money has been flowing, somewhat unevenly, between China and Hollywood, some smart money is looking at building China’s film relations with Europe.
BB88 – when pronounced in Chinese fashion means someone who is very noisy – is pulling the wraps off its first Chinese-backed production slate in time for Cannes.
Now in post-production, “GiantLand” is a poignant drama about a boy’s identification of a strange, bearded man as his father. It is written and directed by first time feature film maker Yousaf Ali Khan, who has a pair of BAFTA nominations for earlier work. It stars Goran Bogdan and Hayley Squires as adult protagonists and Mitchell Lawrence Norman as the boy, Ryan.
If that doesn’t sound particularly Chinese, it’s because BB88’s slate is intended to put more emphasis on quality than checking boxes or scoring points to qualify as a co-production.
“We want to make commercially viable independent films that are also artistically honest,” says co-founder Craig Conway. “We believe that we can do both.” By way of example, he points to the company’s first film, “Broken,” a very-low-budget 2016 drama with a horror twist, about a woman whose past intrudes on her caring for a handicapped patient. It was on the set of “Broken” that Conway was introduced to “GiantLand.”
The company was carefully structured from the outset. It matches Conway’s 25-year track record as a writer, director, producer and actor, with the business management skills of Kirsty Bell, a former tax adviser turned film producer and financier. She previously founded Goldfinch Entertainment in 2013 and has since raised some $90 million (GBP70 million) for investment in 130 movie projects. Goldfinch is a backer of BB88.
In April last year, the China-U.K. Film Fund, which is backed by Zhongze Culture Investment and Varcale Capital Management, announced that it was to back four U.K. film companies. (Duncan Heath’s Independent Talent Group was one of the others.) Zhongze and the fund committed to co-financing a slate of three films from BB88.
“We aim to have an ongoing production operation, not just make films one project at a time,” says Conway. That production flow will also help make use of the company’s in house post-production facility. “We are looking at new directors and talent all the time. But we have rejected many projects at script stage because we could not get the value equation right.”
“We were interested in BB88’s business model, Internet drama, and the possibility of making films that could work in China without necessarily having to get a theatrical release,” says Gina Fegan, director of culture at Zhongze. “(Zhongze and the fund) are looking at U.K. films that can travel, and at Chinese films for China, and then trying to grow the two teams together.”
BB88 company hopes soon to be able to announce a prominent autumn festival berth for “GiantLand.” And at Cannes it expects to be able to unveil its international sales agent.
Next up is “The Kruger,” a psychological thriller set in a South African safari park, and pitched as “Wolf Creek” meets “Cujo.” The nearly-$5 million budget picture is fully-financed and now casting.
BB88 says the project is enjoying the competitive attentions of three sales agents.
Green-lighted in recent days, is one film with more obvious appeal for Chinese audiences. “Break” is a rags-to-riches tale about a wastrel from London who attempts to crack the milieu of professional snooker, but will have to break with good friends and bad habits to do so. It is to be directed by Michael Elkin and was brought to the company by actor Terry Dwyer.
Other Chinese companies have started to eye the U.K. and French film industries, particularly English-language French movies, reasoning that they can access decades of movie experience, but at a fraction of the cost of buying their way into Hollywood or competing for Hollywood projects.
Source: Variety by Patrick Frater
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Chinese fans crazy about ‘Dangal’ actor Aamir Khan
(Global Times) Indian actor Aamir Khan caused quite a lot of buzz when he came to China last month to attend the Beijing International Film Festival and promote his latest film Dangal, which is currently the highest earning Indian film in the Chinese mainland.
A heartthrob in his home country, the actor has also earned a huge number of dedicated fans in China.
Social focus
Khan has become a unique figure among the many idols - most of them Hollywood celebrities and South Korean pop stars - that most Chinese fans are crazy about.
First starting out in India as a child actor in 1972, Khan continued to work in front of and behind the big screen as an actor, director and producer over the next few decades to become one of the most influential names in Indian cinema.
However, most people in China got to know Khan through his role in the comedy 3 Idiots (2009), which featured a story about three students who challenged the Indian education system.
"I really related to the story. The problems with the education systems in China and India are very similar," Wang Yang (pseudonym), an avid fan of Khan, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
She first watched 3 Idiots while in high school. After this first taste, she sought out more of Khan's works, which eventually led to him becoming her idol.
"He totally became a god to me after I watched Truth Alone Triumphs," Wang said.
Truth Alone Triumphs is a TV talk show hosted by Khan that has aired on various channels in India since 2012. It mostly touches on sensitive social issues in India such as rape, female foeticide, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, untouchability and corruption in politics.
The show has been positively received by viewers for Khan's efforts to raise awareness about social issues.
"All those issues touched on in his works also exist in China, but no Chinese has ever made that type of film," Wu Qian (pseudonym), a 29-year-old fan of Khan told the Global Times. She added that the problem doesn't just lie with Chinese filmmakers, censorship in China poses obstacles for the creation of this type of work as well.
"Khan's Truth Alone Triumphs was not censored in India," Wu pointed out. "I can't even imagine what a show like that would look like in China."
Dedication to craft
Khan's latest film, sports drama Dangal has earned 141 million yuan ($20.4 million) after only 6 days in mainland theaters, despite going up against Hollywood blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2.
Dangal has also garnered critical acclaim among audiences. The film currently has a 9.2/10 on Chinese media review site Douban.
The films tells the story of a former wrestler (Khan) who trains his daughters to be professional wrestlers - a traditionally male-dominated profession - rather than force them into arranged marriages like many other Indian parents.
Once again, many Chinese moviegoers have been amazed by Khan's courage in touching upon sensitive social issues and trying to inspire women to break the constraints of tradition.
A number of those who have seen the film, including celebrities, almost immediately posted how much they enjoyed the film on Chinese social media networks.
"At first, I liked Khan because he's handsome, cute and is a versatile actor who aims for perfection.
But now I admire him for how he uses the power of being a public figure," Taitai (nickname), a Khan fan who runs the unofficial Aamir Khan Information Channel on Sina Weibo, in an e-mail interview with the Global Times.
"He knows that countries need more than government efforts to develop. Society needs to have its awareness raised as well… I wish there could be celebrities like him in China," Taitai wrote.
Taitai first decided to establish the fan account eight years ago when he noticed that China lacked any official channels featuring the latest information about Khan.
In his spare time, Taitai searches for latest news about Khan which he then uses to make videos about the star in Chinese. Additionally, he occasionally buys Khan-related products from India which he sells to fans through the channel, although he stated that he hasn't turned a profit from these transactions.
Taitai said that there has been a significant increase in the number of Khan fans in China in recent years.
"Uncle Mi's sincere passion for film and his consistent efforts in increasing social awareness is the reason that he has such a massive fan base," Taitai wrote. Uncle Mi, or Mi Shu, is the nickname by which fans refer to Khan in Chinese.
Khan's dedication to his roles has also earned him a lot of praise.
While shooting Dangal, Khan gained and lost a dramatic amount of weight for the role. To play the older version of the father character he increased his body weight to 97 kilograms. He underwent intense physical training, during which time he lost 25 kilograms, to play the character when he was a younger, more muscular wrestler.
A Facebook video of Khan training in the gym that he posted in December 2016 has been viewed more than 20 million times.
After Khan opened an official account on Sina Weibo on April 14, he attracted more than 432,499 followers in a short period of time.
According to Taitai, Khan's Chinese fans have held a number of activities, such as greeting him at the airport during his recent two visits to the mainland.
"I believe a great filmmaker does more than pure entertainment. A great movie should reflect society, and maybe help it develop to some extent," Wu said.
"He has done that. He is a great filmmaker and I wish there were more people like him in China."
"He knows that countries need more than government efforts to develop. Society needs to have its awareness raised as well… I wish there could be celebrities like him in China," Taitai wrote.
Taitai first decided to establish the fan account eight years ago when he noticed that China lacked any official channels featuring the latest information about Khan.
In his spare time, Taitai searches for latest news about Khan which he then uses to make videos about the star in Chinese. Additionally, he occasionally buys Khan-related products from India which he sells to fans through the channel, although he stated that he hasn't turned a profit from these transactions.
Taitai said that there has been a significant increase in the number of Khan fans in China in recent years.
"Uncle Mi's sincere passion for film and his consistent efforts in increasing social awareness is the reason that he has such a massive fan base," Taitai wrote. Uncle Mi, or Mi Shu, is the nickname by which fans refer to Khan in Chinese.
Khan's dedication to his roles has also earned him a lot of praise.
While shooting Dangal, Khan gained and lost a dramatic amount of weight for the role. To play the older version of the father character he increased his body weight to 97 kilograms. He underwent intense physical training, during which time he lost 25 kilograms, to play the character when he was a younger, more muscular wrestler.
A Facebook video of Khan training in the gym that he posted in December 2016 has been viewed more than 20 million times.
After Khan opened an official account on Sina Weibo on April 14, he attracted more than 432,499 followers in a short period of time.
According to Taitai, Khan's Chinese fans have held a number of activities, such as greeting him at the airport during his recent two visits to the mainland.
"I believe a great filmmaker does more than pure entertainment. A great movie should reflect society, and maybe help it develop to some extent," Wu said.
"He has done that. He is a great filmmaker and I wish there were more people like him in China."
Source: Global Times by Li Jingjing
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'Wonder Woman' to hit screens in China same day as N America
(China Plus) The highly anticipated 'Wonder Woman' will be released in theaters in China and North America on June 2.
The cast and production crew will arrive in Shanghai next Monday to promote the story from DC Comics.
Along with posters for the Chinese market, leading actress Gal Gadot greeted her fans in China in the trailer that just released.
"Hello to all my friends in China. I'm Gal Gadot. And I play Wonder Woman in the first ever live action 'Wonder Woman' movie. From the gorgeous island to WWI Europe, the film is full of action and adventure. As an Amozon warrior learns what it takes to become one of the greatest super heroes of all time. Don't miss the film on June 2 in the theater near you."
In addition to Gadot, leading actor Chris Pine, director Patty Jenkins, and three producers of the film also showed up in Shanghai.
It's reported that another action movie 'The Mummy' starring Tom Hanks will also hit Chinese screens in June. And 'Transformers: The Last Knght' is also expected to be released in the country simultaneously as in North America.
Source: China Plus by Xu Yaqi
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Disney's 'Pirates' rolls out red carpet for rare China premiere
(Reuters) Walt Disney Co's latest outing of "Pirates of the Caribbean" rolled out the red carpet in Shanghai on Thursday in a rare world premiere in China for a Hollywood blockbuster as U.S. producers look to woo moviegoers in the Middle Kingdom.
In the shadow of Disney's newest theme park that opened last year, hundreds of "Pirates" fans lined up to catch a glimpse of stars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Javier Bardem ahead of an afternoon viewing.
Despite a slowdown in box office sales in the Chinese market, U.S. studios are increasingly looking to it to boost global revenues, though they face issues from a local quota system for imported films to questions over censorship.
China's box office slowed markedly last year, but grew at its fastest pace in more than a year in April, driven by Universal's high-octane action movie "The Fate of the Furious".
The China premiere of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" puts it among a small number of U.S. films to screen for the first time in China. Films like "Point Break" and "Iron Man 3" have premiered or opened earlier in China.
The trend reflects the growing influence of China's 1.4 billion potential cinema goers, who are increasingly driving global box office sales.
In the Shanghai sunshine, student Zhao Yushen said she had skipped her studies for exams to come from nearby Nanjing to see Depp.
"I've still got one final-term exam to take tomorrow morning, but I haven't prepared for it at all," she said.
Hollywood is eager to tap more consumers like Zhao, and hopes it can lobby Beijing to raise a cap of 34 imported films a year under a revenue-sharing deal. The deal is scheduled to be reviewed this year.
The market grew around 4 percent last year, down sharply from nearly 50 percent in 2015, according to box office tracker EntGroup.
The four previous "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, the most recent in 2011, have generated over $3.7 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to the website Box Office Mojo.
(Source: Reuters; Reporting by Jackie Cai and Adam Jourdan; Additional reporting by Li Yue and Jiang Xihao; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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Michelle Chen stuns with new photoshoot
(Toggle) Taiwanese actress Michelle Chen, who gave birth to her first child, a boy nicknamed “Xiao Xing Xing” in December last year, has regained her pre-pregnancy figure.
The 33-year-old, who was once nicknamed “soup dumpling,” and dubbed “the ugliest Xiao Long Nu” for her round face and stout figure whilst filming the period drama The Romance of the Condor Heroes, stunned netizens when pictures of her latest pictorial was posted online.
The pictorial, which was themed “home-chic” saw Michelle garbed in a simple pair of white shorts and a tank top, lounging about in various places. One of the pictures that gained the most attention from netizens was the one where Michelle showed off her slender legs, with netizens expressing their envy at her slim figure and long legs.
Previously, Michelle herself had posted on her Facebook account that she had covered up her flaws with her clothes, and that the photographer had shot some pictures from a lower angle to give viewers the illusion that she had longer legs.
“[I] should give the photographer an extra chicken drumstick [for his photography skills],” she joked.
Michelle tied the knot with Chinese actor Chen Xiao, after dating for seven months, in July last year, on the actor’s birthday and announced that she was three months pregnant. The pair first met while filming Chinese drama The Romance of the Condor Heroes in 2014.
Source: Toggle
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Street shots of Angelababy
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Peter Loehr to Exit as Legendary Entertainment’s China Chief
(Variety) Longtime China hand Peter Loehr will exit Beijing-based Legendary East at the end of the month, leaving another senior post to be filled at Dalian Wanda-owned Legendary Entertainment after the recent departure of founder Thomas Tull.
Since 2012, Loehr has been CEO of Legendary’s Chinese subsidiary, which distributes and markets Legendary’s films in the Middle Kingdom and seeks out co-production opportunities. Loehr was also a producer on “The Great Wall” (pictured), the most expensive U.S.-China co-production ever.
Legendary did not offer a reason for Loehr’s departure on June 1.
“We are grateful to Peter for his contributions and service building out a platform and awareness for Legendary’s brand in China and wish him great success in all future endeavors,” said Jack Gao, Wanda senior vice president. “The current Legendary East management has been instrumental in developing our business plan for the future, and we look forward to continuing our strategic growth trajectory with this team.”
Gao said a successor to Loehr would be announced shortly.
The high-profile changes in management come barely a year after Wanda’s staggering $3.5-billion purchase of Legendary. Since then, costly films such as “The Great Wall” and “Warcraft” have failed to meet box-office expectations, though “Kong: Skull Island” has performed well. Gao, who is serving as Legendary’s interim CEO, boasted in a recent interview with Variety that the company would “be one of the top five studios in the world” within the next three years.
Loehr has been based in China for 22 years, as an independent producer and as CAA’s first managing director in its China office, from 2005 to 2012. At CAA, he worked on such films as “Lost in Thailand,” “Tuya’s Marriage,” “Mission: Impossible 3” and “The Karate Kid.”
As head of Legendary East, Loehr oversaw the release of “The Great Wall,” “Kong: Skull Island” and “Warcraft,” whose box-office performances in China exceeded those in the U.S.
“Having the opportunity to grow Legendary’s business in China has been an incredible experience and journey for me,” Loehr said in a statement. “I am enormously proud of everything that we have accomplished during my tenure at Legendary and feel extremely fortunate to have had the chance to work with the smart, innovative and incredible teams at both Legendary and Wanda.”
Source: Variety by Henry Chu
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Mayday kicks off Life Tour in Hong Kong
(Toggle) The first concert of Mayday's Life Tour in Hong Kong kicked off with the band’s guest performer GBOYSWAG, followed by a short film with the song "Party Animal" performed by its five members.
Although they did not say much, the film was full of meaningful messages, including Huang Bo's words, "Life is unlimited, with endless bills, loans and tickets that you cannot buy."
After presenting a round of hot song and dance performances, the band members greeted the audience and introduced themselves in Cantonese. Although they were happy to meet their fans every May, Guan You admitted that he had been too nervous to fall asleep the night before.
Ashin said, "We meet in May every year, and we have brought the instruments with us this year so that we can prepare for the concert at night and write songs in the day." Ashin added jokingly that they need to work overtime and test how late they can stay up.
Source: Toggle
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'Kaili Blues' director to shoot second movie
(Shanghai Daily) Talented young director Bi Gan, whose feature film directorial debut "Kaili Blues" was a critical success will start shooting his second film "Long Day's Journey Into Night" next month.
The new artistic film also written by Bi will star mainland actress Tang Wei, actor Huang Jue and Taiwan actress Sylvia Chang. Most of its scenes will be shot in southwest China's Guizhou Province.
The film centers on a man who has returned to the town of his birth 12 years after having committed a still-unpunished murder.
It explores memories and family relationship of the characters. The film is also a bold and ambitious journey into the mysteries of a troubled life.
Leading actors in the film, including Huang and Tang need to speak local dialect. They have spent much time practicing. Chang, who is also a famous film maker said that she is impressed by Bi's talent and passion for film. She is pleased to support a young hardworking director.
Source: Shanghai Daily
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'Pirates' movie sets a course for Chinese viewers
(Shanghai Daily) Disney's latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" rolled out the red carpet in Shanghai yesterday in a rare world premiere in China for a Hollywood blockbuster as US producers look to woo moviegoers in the Middle Kingdom.
In the shadow of Disney's newest theme park, which opened last year, hundreds of "Pirates" fans lined up to catch a glimpse of stars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Javier Bardem ahead of an afternoon viewing.
Despite a slowdown in box office sales in the Chinese market, US studios are increasingly looking to it to boost global revenues, though they face issues such as a local quota system for imported films.
China's box office slowed markedly last year, but grew at its fastest pace in more than a year in April, driven by Universal's high-octane "The Fate of the Furious."
The Chinese premiere of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" puts it among a small number of US films to screen for the first time in China. It joins such movies as as "Point Break" and "Iron Man 3" to have premiered or opened earlier in China.
The trend reflects the growing influence of China's cinemagoers, who are driving global box office sales.
In the Shanghai sunshine, student Zhao Yushen said she had skipped her studies to come from Nanjing to see Depp.
"I've still got one final-term exam to take tomorrow morning, but I haven't prepared for it at all," she said.
Hollywood is eager to tap more consumers like Zhao, and hopes it can lobby Beijing to raise a cap of 34 imported films a year under a revenue-sharing deal. The deal is due to be reviewed this year.
The market grew around 4 percent last year, down sharply from nearly 50 percent in 2015, according to box office tracker EntGroup. The previous "Pirates" films have generated over US$3.7 billion in global ticket sales, Box Office Mojo said.
Source: Shanghai Daily
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Guli Nazha poses for fashion shoot
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Singer Bowie Tsang poses for photo shoot
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Stills from “This is Not What I Expected”
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Johnny Depp brings the pirate world back to Shanghai
Hot Shanghai became even hotter as iconic actor Johnny Depp and fellow cast members appeared at Shanghai Disney Resort on Thursday for the world premiere of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," one of most anticipated Hollywood summer blockbusters.
The studio repeatedly stressed in press releases and promotional materials that this is the first time a Hollywood blockbluster will have its world premiere ceremony in China, indicating their high expectations for the world's second largest film market.
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Javier Bardem and Brenton Thwaites, Norwegian directorial duo of Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who has produced the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise since its very beginning, walked the red carpet in front of hundreds of screaming fans. However, leading actress Kaya Scodelario was absent from the ceremony.
Depp said he draws much inspiration from cartoons he’s watched with his young kids since the first installment and described his iconic character Captain Jack Sparrow as rebellious, innocent, sometimes silly and a drunkard. His fellow actors also shared their deep admiration for Depp's charisma and his Captain Sparrow role. Bloom, who is back in the franchise after his absence from the fourth installment, said that collaborating with Depp is one of the main reasons he decided to reprise his role.
The cast and crew also visited the Treasure Cove at the Shanghai Disneyland, the first time the real-life actors of the franchise had visited the "Pirates of the Caribbean" themed ride in Disneyland.
Previous "Pirates of the Caribbean" films have grossed over US$3.7 billion worldwide as of January 2015, putting the film franchise 11th in the list of all-time highest grossing franchises and film series.
The first installment was released in China in 2003 and only grossed 27 million yuan. The second installment wasn’t imported to China. The third grossed 126 million yuan in 2007. The fourth earned 464 million yuan in China in 2011 as the market expanded. Box office analysts expect the new installment may hit the 1.5 billion yuan mark this year.
"Dead Men Tell No Tales" tells the story of Captain Jack Sparrow as he’s pursued by an old nemesis, Armando Salazar, who along with his Spanish Navy ghost crew has escaped from the Devil's Triangle and is determined to kill every pirate at sea. Jack, aided by new allies Henry and Carina, must seek the Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact that grants its possessor total control over the seas, in order to defeat Salazar. It will debut on May 26 in both China and North America.
Source: china.org by zhang rui
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Chen Duling poses for fashion magazine
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Actor Chen Bolin poses for fashion magazine
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Street shots of Chen Ran
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Liu Yifei poses for fashion magazine
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Science fiction’s new golden age in China, what it says about social evolution and the future, and the stories writers want world to see
Last year, Liu’s compatriot Hao Jingfang earned a Hugo Award for Folding Beijing, in which the city is divided into zones, each with a different number of hours in the day.
Liu has been nominated for another Hugo Award this year, for the final episode in his trilogy, Death’s End.
The two winning books are now being adapted for the big screen in China, marking a turning point for Chinese sci-fi and potentially expanding the genre’s exposure globally.
Some 104 original sci-fi titles were published in China in 2016, compared to 75 the previous year, and 461 novelettes were released last year.
Author Regina Wang Kanyu, 27, a long-time sci-fi fan, has witnessed its growth in recent years. “It’s the golden age of Chinese science fiction,” she says.
Wang is a co-founder of AppleCore, a group of mostly university students who get together in Shanghai to read science fiction. It grew from an alliance of several university clubs into a community, and organises film screenings, visits to virtual reality labs and annual festivals.
“It used to difficult for us to find sponsorship for our activities. Now [companies] actively seek us out to provide support,” Wang says.
She now works full time in the science fiction field – as a public relations manager for start-up Storycom by day and a sci-fi writer by night. Storycom purchases and publishes works by Chinese authors, and Wang’s task is to promote them in foreign markets. “We are not simply marketing the works owned by our company, but the entire genre of Chinese science fiction. We would like to increase its influence, outside China and especially beyond the field of literature, into arts and tourism.”
Last month, writers Regina Wang, Wang Yao and Hao Jingfang attended Melon Hong Kong, the city’s first science-fiction conference to bring together Chinese and Western writers.
“It’s a market miracle,” says Wang Yao, who goes by the pen name Xia Jia. “Ten years ago [when I started writing], we could never have imagined that these opportunities would be available,” she says, referring to the translation of Chinese sci-fi books and film adaptions.
It’s not the first golden age of sci-fi in China, though. Wang Yao says that was between 1978 and 1983 during reforms initiated by late Deng Xiaoping. “It was thought that science fiction could cultivate a scientific spirit, and the authorities assigned authors to write books in the genre,” says Wang.
More than 30 years later, the new golden age is very different but also being supported by the government. In its science and technology progress plan, published last year, the State Council cited a need to improve the population’s scientific literacy. Policies include the establishment of national science fiction awards and international sci-fi festivals.
Commercial interests are also backing Chinese science fiction. Outstanding novels – like those by
Liu and Hao – could be developed into lucrative spin-offs including films, but also merchandise and video games.
Although investors are eyeing sci-fi’s entertainment industry potential, the literature itself is not so highly valued. “The payment writers receive for fiction writing is very small. I also write for fashion magazines, which pay a lot more,” says Regina Wang. Since it is impossible to make ends meet writing sci-fi, most authors do it simply as a hobby.
Wang Yao’s day job is teaching practical English writing at Peking University. Growing up in a family of engineers spurred her interest in the sci-fi genre, and she dreamed of becoming an eminent scientist, like Nobel laureate Marie Curie. She earned a place at Peking University’s School of Physics and majored in atmospheric science. However, after feeling out of place for a few years, she changed course and eventually pursued a doctoral degree in comparative literature.
She believes science fiction has a value beyond profit. “You can earn a lot of money by producing a sci-fi film. But more importantly, science fiction can raise relevant questions, help us understand the age we live in, and confront real-life dilemmas,” says Wang. These questions include how humans should respond to technology such as artificial intelligence, and more existential questions about the role of the human race and our traditions. Wang believes it is vital that Chinese society contemplates these questions.
“Science fiction looks at the process of modernisation and how our values, identity, lifestyle, traditions and even emotions change amid that,” says Wang. In Western countries, modernisation and the emergence of science fiction occurred at the same time. But in contemporary China, where development is happening at such a rapid pace, society has yet to comprehend the process of modernisation, giving rise to many problems – some of which people refuse to acknowledge, and others that are censored by the authorities.
“Sci-fi writers are very perceptive and they’re conscious of the influence of globalisation and modernisation. They ponder where Chinese people stand in this process and what our responsibilities are,” Wang says. “We are not copying how other countries develop. We are finding our own way and considering alternatives to modernisation.”
Increasingly, sci-fi writers are also using the genre as a means of social commentary, questioning the direction of urban development. Hao Jingfang works as an economic researcher for the China Development Research Foundation think tank, so her research informs and inspires her writing.
“Half of the theme [of my writing] concerns social systems, their history and future development.
The other half concerns philosophical aspects, such as human agency and willpower,” Hao says.
For example, her award-winning novelette Folding Beijing addresses the inequality perpetuated by the social and economic system. The story takes place in a futuristic Beijing that is divided into three time dimensions. Protagonist Lao Dao travels illegally between dimensions to raise school fees for his adopted daughter. The story idea stemmed from a conversation Hao had with a taxi driver in Beijing, who had to spend a whole night queueing to get his child into kindergarten.
For Hao, it is easier to tackle social issues through science fiction because authors are not limited by reality and can use allegory to more easily explain complicated issues. “In Folding Beijing, there is a line between different spaces and you can see the differences between social classes. But in real life, the social divide is not actually visible,” she says.
Although the Hugo Awards have brought global attention to the Chinese sci-fi scene, as an industry it still has a long way to go.
“Unlike Western countries, we do not have a long tradition of a cultural and creative industry,” says Wang Yao. There are only about 100 writers, publishers and filmmakers in the Chinese sci-fi industry, compared with more than 4,000 sci-fi writers in the United States, she adds.
Although China’s cultural soft power is no match for that of the US, Wang believes Chinese sci-fi has something to contribute to discussions on the development of science and technology, and she hopes their voices can be heard.
“We believe we can be a strong force contributing to the dialogue. And dialogue is only possible when [the Western science fiction industry] acknowledges that our opinions are different, but still valuable,” says Wang. “Soft power is not a defining factor and is not necessarily related to economic power. It has its autonomy and cannot be boosted by simply investing a lot of money. In the end, [the value of our work] is decided by the intricacy and complexity of our thoughts.”
Whether we are witnessing a true golden age of Chinese sci-fi remains to be seen. “It is not determined by the number of writers, publishers or industry professionals, or the number of works produced,” says Hao. “It will only be called the golden age if we produce good work that stands the test of time.”
Source: South China Morning Post by Rachel Cheung
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