Chinese films attract increasing overseas audiences through unique aesthetics, cultural connotations

Chinese films are heading towards the international market greater openness and professionalism, attracting increasing overseas audiences through their unique aesthetics and cultural connotations, said international filmmakers at various events during the 78th Cannes Film Festival in France.

The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival opened on May 13 in the southern French resort town of Cannes. Chinese authorities and filmmakers have actively organized or taken part in events in Cannes.

Multiple dialogues between Chinese and foreign filmmakers were held on Tuesday, gathering film professionals from various countries.

An exchange event on successful experience in film distribution, organized by the China Film Foundation, focused on the two-way efforts made by Chinese and foreign films makers. The film professionals also explored the popularity of foreign language films in the Chinese market, as well the successful screening of Chinese blockbusters like "Ne Zha 2" and "Creation of The Gods" in overseas markets.

Senior French film distributor Boris Pugnet said the key to Chinese films gaining global recognition lies in their balance of artistry and entertainment.

"Chinese production has reached a very high level of production value, of quality from an artistic point of view, from an entertaining point of view, and so my plan is to be very attentive and to dig for more movies. We want to specialize in Chinese movies to distribute in Europe," said Pugnet.

French specialist in Chinese film Luisa Prudentino said that Chinese films present a real and poetic China through their unique aesthetics, and the cultural connotations carried by these films are being increasingly understood by international audiences.

"The strength of the Chinese cinema is that they take the tradition as the basis of the modernity, and this is really very, very clear in the Chinese cinema, and I think it's really the unique, unique characteristic, the most innovative characteristic of the Chinese films," said Prudentino.

At the Chinese film and global opportunities roundtable forum organized by the China Film Association, Chinese and foreign filmmakers shared their insights on topics such as the overseas performance of Chinese films and the application of artificial intelligence in the film and television industry.

The Chinese Film Night also took place on Tuesday night, in which Chinese actors expressed their hope to tell compelling Chinese stories through their works.

"We should create some truly outstanding works based on our Chinese stories, but expressed through contemporary methods. I think it’s quite meaningful that such works have the ability to transcend cultures, borders and languages," said Yu Shi, a Chinese actor.

Chinese films attract increasing overseas audiences through unique aesthetics, cultural connotations

Chinese films attract increasing overseas audiences through unique aesthetics, cultural connotations

China's development has never been a "threat" to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.

Some Western media and think tanks are peddling so-called "China Shock 2.0," saying that "China is achieving fast development in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy and AI and relies on foreign markets to absorb its overcapacity, thus reducing the market share of developed countries and sending more serious shock waves to the global economy compared with the era of traditional manufacture industry," while there are foreign commentators saying that the "China Shock 2.0" argument ignores the genuine innovation occurring within the Chinese industrial ecosystem and that Chinese export is the exact booster of the global economy that is needed in the turbulent period and more indispensable than ever.

Commenting on that, Lin said: "From the world's factory to the world's market and innovation powerhouse, China's development is achieved through strong performance driven by innovation and brings tangible cooperation opportunities and space to the world. High-quality Chinese products represented by the 'old three' of textiles, furniture and home appliances have stabilized the global industrial and supply chain, lowered the living cost of global consumers and eased the inflationary pressure worldwide. China's green production capacity represented by the 'new three' of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has bridged the gap between supply and demand in global green development and bolstered the global energy transition and low-carbon development. Moreover, China's high-tech products represented by the 'new new three' of robots, AI and innovative drugs have broken high-tech barriers and monopoly and enabled people in more countries to access affordable new technologies," said the spokesman.

"Openness and cooperation bring about progress and win-win result. China's development has never been a 'threat' to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries. What really creates 'shocks' to the world has never been the innovation of Chinese companies and efficiency of Chinese industrial capacity, but protectionist moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, defend the multilateral trading system and provide more certainty and new impetus to the world economy with its own steady development," said Lin.

China's development never a threat: FM spokesman