Photo: Weibo.
Jia Zhangke’s Pingyao International Film Festival Announces Advisory Committees
Founded by Chinese director Jia Zhangke, the 1st Pingyao International Film Festival is scheduled to take place from October 19 to October 26, 2017 in Pingyao, China. The Festival recently announces its artistic committee and strategic planning committee. The artistic committee includes five acclaimed directors, including Feng Xiaogang, Johnnie To, Walter Salles, Aleksandr Sokurov, and Anurag Kashyap. The strategic planning committee consists of established film producers, film festival organizers, and investors. Read more on Sina
Future Looks Brighter for Arthouse Cinema in China
This Friday, ‘Manchester by the Sea‘ opened in China as the first movie playing solely under the banner of the National Arthouse Film Alliance. The Alliance was founded in 2016 to help arthouse films stand on their own two feet in China, and has participated in distributing and exhibiting indie and artsy movies including ‘The Summer is Gone’ and ‘Absurd Accident’. The Alliance considers the theatrical run of ‘Manchester by the Sea’ as an experiment, as the film will not screen in any other theaters that are not members of the Alliance. If the film performs well in box office, the Alliance is likely to keep it in theater for a long period of time. Read more on 1905.com
The Localization of Japanese IPs in China
One of this week’s biggest news about China’s film industry is the announcement of key crew members of ‘Miracles of the Namiya General Store’, a Chinese film adaptation of Japanese writer Keigo Higashino‘s novel of the same name. Renowned Chinese writer and director Han Han will the film’s artistic director and TFBoy’s Wang Junkai will be the lead actor. In addition to ‘Miracles of the Namiya General Store’, Chinese producers have acquired adaptation rights of a number of other hit Japanese IPs over the past a few years. However, localization of these Japanese IPs remains to be a challenge, due to cultural differences as well as Japanese IP rights holders’ particularly strict control over content modifications. Read more on Ent Group
How This Remote Chinese City Became a Center of China’s Film Industry
Khorgas, a Chinese city near the border with Kazakhstan, is becoming one of the centers of China’s film industry. Currently, Khorgas is home to more than 1600 film and TV companies, including many companies owned by celebrities, such as Fan Bingbing, Wu Jing, and Wu Xiubo. Khorgos has long been a crucial region for Chinese trade with other Asian and European countries, and the favorable policies, such as low corporate income taxes, set by both national and local governments over the past a few years, have made the city especially attractive to film and TV companies. Read more on TMT Post
Evergrande Group’s New Move to Conquer the Chinese Entertainment Market
Chinese real estate giant Evergrande Group announced on August 28 (Beijing Time) that the company will build 15 Children’s amusement parks across China. Last year, Evergrande became the No. 1 real estate company in China by revenue. Since then, the company has been strategically expanding itself in China’s entertainment market. Evergrande plans to only build indoor parks in order to avoid various uncertainties caused by weather changes. Read more on China News
