Latest update December 15th, 2015 10:12 PM
“Towards The Glorious”, says the Head of China’s Film Bureau in SAPPRFT Zhang Hongsen in SIFF
SHANGHAI, June 14, 2025 - We gather in Shanghai today in the name of movie, and we are full of passion and vitality. Now there are a growing number of film festivals in the world, and there are more and more activities held in the name of movie. However, if we always keep a clear mind and our initial dream for movie, we can easily find that, actually, film festival is not a feast of stars, a luxury party, or a variety of news topics arising therefrom. The nature of the festival is the exchange of ideas, the collision of wisdom and the stimulation of talent. And all this must fall on movie itself. Therefore, high quality works will always be the sole standard for movie.
Here, I want to talk about four points:
My first point is that the content is the golden property of the movie.
The theme of the forum today is New Normal of Movie: Enabling industry upgrade through Internet. Before the Internet got involved, the film had already 120 years of history, which formed an invisible net—a net for people to exchange and communicate their feelings about watching movie. Stepping out the theater, they communicated with eye contact and sincere thoughts exchange, which had formed a net of eye contact. These networks are prior to the Internet. Why movie has eternal charm? The reason is that the web of eye contact and thoughts exchange, which existed for 120 years, have never disappeared.
Today, with the Internet, how can these two networks better overlap and better complete each other? This is the most important issue we face today. Faced with the Internet Plus era, Internet is a new force into the film industry. I hope that it can give sufficient awe and enough respect to the nets of eye contact and thoughts exchange. Because people’s observation, thinking, discovery and expression, are forming the content of film, and gold creativity of film.
In traditional filmmaking, movie creativity is often the author’s personal behavior, or the behavior of a small circle of filmmakers. When today we have the Internet, suddenly we discovered that such a huge broad platform provides the most extensive exchange of information, the largest area of thinking collision, the most possibilities of wisdom stimulation, and maximum range of the discussion. Therefore, we can say that Internet platform provides a broader space for today’s movie creativity. As for Internet plus, the first thing added is movie creativity. It is hoped that the movie creativity in today’s Internet age can give rise to more satisfying and unique ideas which can connect closely with the audience in the space with more information collision, more thoughts exchanges, more wisdom stimulation and broader discussion space.
Internet has big data and cloud computing, but it cannot produce the poetic quality in people’s life with whatever powerful data and computing capacity. In fact, mind and emotion are the birthplace of poetry. However, with more statistics, more calculations of the Internet, it is possible to make our mind to have more communication and emotional collision, so that people can find a wider poetic space and gorgeous soul dwelling place, which are the key for upgrade of Internet plus and movie.
My second point is that the life of film always lies in innovation.
We should always think about a fact when discussing upgrade of film industry, that is, the 120 years of movie history, is a history of innovation with continuous development and progress. Just due to such constant changes, constant innovation and continuous development, world film and Chinese film have been surging with strong momentum to keep moving forward. The new proposition presented to us by Internet plus industrial upgrading is exactly innovation.
In such a historical era when Internet can fully mobilize people, everyone participates in it with equal right of dialogue, and movie topics have become a common trend, we have to realize that movie language, movie narrative system and movie texts should also make progress and change with the times. We must have confidence to promote movie to constantly move to a new level.
Today, the situation that movies faces the Internet is just like that silent movie faced voice movie, black and white movie faced color movie, flat movie faced three-dimensional movie, traditional stunt faced CG and common voice faced panoramic sound. We are faced with brand new tools and materials, and also faced with new thinking brought by such tools and new materials. We are confident to initiate the reform of shaping new form and style of Chinese film language. Only with new shape and new reforms can we get new vitality.
My third point is that we need to recognize that movie and audience are flesh and blood.
Chinese movie has achieved a 12-year comprehensive industrial reform, and the indicators of movie have rapidly improved. China has now become the world’s second largest film market, and this number is constantly refreshed. But the filmmaker must have a clear understanding that the number does not come from nothing, but the audience. Behind the silent numbers are the fiery hearts of the audience. Moviemaker should feel gratitude to the audience, and always maintain the flesh and blood relation with them based on such gratitude.
The Internet has entered the film industry. We looked forward to seeing what the Internet will bring to movie. We hope that the Internet can mobilize the audience to watch movies in theaters to a greater extent. In addition, online seat selection, online ticketing, online marketing and many other service forms are emerging.
At the same time, filmmakers should also treasure the energy simulation to the audience, which is made by the entrance of the Internet into movie industry. We should contribute more and do better to make more films that have fresh and blood relation with the audience. As to Internet plus and industrial upgrading, the audience is what it relies on for living and also the fundamental prerequisite for our discussion of movie.
My fourth point is that film is becoming a new platform for starting business and making innovation.
Today the Forum has brought together many young people. There are also numerous young people who are active in China’s film industry. I have worked at the film department of SAPPRFT for 12 years, and often have extensive contacts and exchanges with film creators. I think that I have known the vast majority of creative talents in China’ film industry. But when a lot of new faces appeared, I was still surprised that there were so many innovative talents, entrepreneurial talents and cross-border personnel entering our film industry. They are not only from specialized institutions such as Beijing Film Academy, Central Academy of Drama and Communication University of China. Some of them are interdisciplinary talent from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Harvard, Stanford and many other institutions. They are entering the movie industry, and their creativity, work system and lofty ideals for film will effectively rewrite the future of Chinese movie.
China will become strong as long as its young people become strong. Similarly, Chinese movie will become strong as long as the young talents become strong. When we see these young and interdisciplinary talents breaking the rules and making innovations, we have no reason to not be confident about the future of Chinese film.
A few days ago, a reporter asked me if I could use a sentence to express my expectations for the future of Chinese film. I came up with a saying from the classical philosopher Immanuel Kant’s - Two things fill the mind with ever-increasing admiration and awe: the starry heaven above me and the moral law within me. For the future development of Chinese film, the starry heaven above me is to make the movie industry stronger. Only with strong industry can we support enough ideas and multi-type and innovative artistic expression. At the same time, we should bear the moral law in mind. When China becomes a film industry superpower, we must also have the dignity and specifications of film culture that are consistent with its power. Let us work together towards this goal.
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