Headlines from China: Shanghai to Issue Subsidies to Help Cinemas Tide Over Pandemic Closures

The 11th China Film Directors’ Guild Awards Announced Official Selection

On Monday, the annual China Film Directors’ Guild Awards announced a preliminary list of 25 selected films to compete for this year’s awards in six categories, including the best director, film, actor, actress, emerging director and screenwriter of the year. The online voting started on Monday and will run until July 31st. Among this list of official selection, there are a number of 2019 box office sensations such as “Ne Zha”, “The Wandering Earth” and “My People, My Country”. Critically-acclaimed art house films such as “Song Long, My Son” and “Send Me to the Clouds” are also selected. Read more China Directors’ Guild

Shanghai to Issue Subsidies to Help Cinemas Tide Over Pandemic Closures

On Wednesday, the Shanghai Municipal Film Administration announced that a sum of 18 million yuan (about $2.6 million) subsidy will be dispersed to a list of 345 cinemas citywide that have been influenced by the protracted movie theater shutdown. The administration said that the exact amount of subsidies each cinema receives will be based on their scale, number of screens and box office figures in 2019. The list contains a variety of cinemas ranging from large cineplexes to small start-up cinemas. Read more maoyan think tank