Latest update December 15th, 2015 10:12 PM
New Chinese Film Talents Fund Forum
The second edition of New Chinese Film Talents Fund Forum, organized by Marché du Film and Champs Lis International, was held during the 67th Cannes film festival. Eight film projects were selected, i.e. Alive! by LI Yang, Bloody Far Eastby Leon DU, Dinosaur Pico by LIU Kexin, Haze by Clark LEE, Mountain Fish by CAI Xuegang, Premarital Checkup by GUO Tingbo, Mountain Cry by Larry YANG and The 77 Days by ZHAO Hantang, the last two won Special Awards for Market Potential at the 4th Beijing International Film Festival. The Chinese Film Market had the honor to interview the eight directors about their experiences in Cannes.
New Chinese Film Talents Fund Forum is open to young Chinese directors who could have the opportunity to participate in a three-day International Master Class if their projects stood out during the primary selection. After this training, mentors pick out 18 projects, and 6 will be selected to make pitches in Cannes, together with 2 of the best project in Beijing Film Market.
The top prize at the 2nd New Chinese Film Talents Fund Forum was granted to Bloody Far East whose director Du Liang regarded originality and a director’s unique pursuit in aesthetics and themes as the priority for a film project. “No matter where the jury comes from, they will support films of great value. I have an obsolete complicated story but it has its value in terms of rediscovering history. Humanistic and profound, this war film also has the significance of changing the situation that China-produced war films could hardly accepted by the rest of the world.”
Yang Zi, director of Mountain Cry, said that he had a solid literature-based foundation for his project, along with his passion and preserve, which made the jury very impressed. Clark Lee’s Haze is about the issue of poisonous haze in Beijing: the buzz that the project could cause and its environmental theme drew much attention from the jury. Additionally, Guo Tingbo, Cai Xuegang and Zhao Hantang impressed the jury and investors with a focus of the society and its people.
Dinosaur Pico is the only animation among the eight projects, its director Liu Kexin said, “A good idea, a distinctive genre, a strongly supportive team and the understanding of the children’s and the teenagers’ inner world made our project stand out of 180 projects.”
The directors presented their projects to executives of international film corporations, sales agents, producers, investors and press. Every director only had less than ten minutes for the presentation. How to fully make use of the time? Li Yang pointed out frankly, “In a foreign country, nobody knows who you are. The audience only cares about two things: your story and you. Therefore, we can just take ten minutes to tell them a good story in the best way.” Clark Lee said, “During the Pitching Session, hundreds of producers and distributors from all over the world would come over, and their time is precious. So it is reasonable to have a time limit. As for us, we should pick the most important part to introduce, making the audience immerse themselves in your storytelling and then have an impression of its theme, genre and framework. Ultimately, we must make the audience love your story.” Director Cai Xuegang believed that a “true self” should be revealed during the Pitching Session. He said, “If people want to know your project, they can just read paper materials. Why would we bother to do this face-to-face Pitching Session? What’s the difference? As I think, it is a way to let people know who you really are. As they are listening to your description of the project, they can feel the quality and the power of an upcoming film through your personal charm.” As the only female director who made into this forum, Liu Kexin attracted much attention, which made her overwhelmed. She regarded the ten-minute presentation as a comprehensive elaboration of a project: “A director is required to complete the presentation at one stretch with proper speech and body language, neither dull nor over-exaggerated. Confidence generates the best performance.”
Larry Yang suggested that the language should be concise and clear to stimulate the audience; meanwhile, it is also essential to present director’s personal charm and passion. Zhao Hantang, director of The 77 Days, concluded, “There are three focuses at the Pitching session: 1. Clear-defined theme and genre; 2. A concise synopsis; 3. A reasonable production budget.” Besides, Du Liang and Guo Tingbo both mentioned that pictures and video clips would help. Du Liang explained, “How to convince investors in a short time is an interesting question. Most importantly, the director needs to win investors trust. On top of that, you have to let them know how interesting your project is.”
For each director, New Chinese Film Talents Fund Forum is not only an important financing platform but also an opportunity to learn. Clark Lee said, “New Chinese Film Talents Fund Forum is great! From European Master Class, Pitching Workshop to the forum as well as investors’ club, I can feel that the procedure and operation of the events are quite international, and every activity has been conscientiously performed.” In China, pitching is yet to become the mainstream method of film financing, but they are quite common in the west. Du Liang believed that pitching is the fairest and the most reasonable method to make good project stand out without stifling talents. It will be a trend in the future.”
Liu Kexin said, “Renowned producer Stefano Tealdi and distributor Sophie Bourdon tutored us individually in the methods to make a pitch; more importantly, they helped us with extracting the most appealing elements of our projects. This is the viewpoint that we need to reach the world. It is all about how to establish a bridge and communicate with filmmakers on an international stage. Attending this coaching workshop seems to be the first step to reach the world.”
Director Cai Xuegang said, “The pitching sessions and forum are closely connected. The former serves for the latter. It makes the filmmaking process more transparent. If you are a talented creator with a good project, you can elaborate your project in front of the most professional investors in the field, thereby realizing the project much faster.”
For these directors, receiving feedbacks and advice from international filmmakers, securing investment or partners and promoting the projects are some of the fruits they got from their journey to Cannes.
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