Hong Kong director Stanley Tong (left) and Indian film star Aamir Khan speak at an event on film during the Taihu World Cultural Forum on Friday. [PHOTO BY FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY]

Exchanges in film circles help to build a shared future for mankind

Cinema, which has a unique charm that carries it beyond borders, was one of the most highlighted themes during the annual conference of the Taihu World Cultural Forum, which held its first event on film on Friday.

In China, this year's box office haul had surpassed 50 billion yuan ($7.21 billion) by Oct 4, which was 47 days earlier than that figure was reached last year, according to the China Film Administration, the sector's top regulator.

With 58,530 screens in 10,417 cinemas, the most on Earth, China has inked film coproduction agreements with 21 countries, said Cao Yin, director of the program center at the China Movie Channel.

Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said he hopes exchanges and cooperation in film circles will be further strengthened and contribute to the building of a community of a shared future for mankind.

China has become the world's second-largest movie market. Many genres of films are welcomed in China, and Chinese films have also seen an expansion in going abroad, he said.

Citing blockbusters such as Jackie Chan's Police Story series and Aamir Khan's Dangal, Zhou said a quality film always demonstrates a nation's unique charm from a special perspective.

"The more you exchange culture with the rest of the world, the more you will understand how insightful the proposition 'the more national, the more international' is," Zhou said. "What makes an excellent movie unforgettable is the convincing characters it depicts."

Khan, who also has won a huge fan base in China through such blockbusters as 3 Idiots, PK and Secret Superstar, shared a similar view.

With a filmmaking career spanning over three decades, Khan said his criteria in selecting a script involve not trying to estimate the audience's reaction, but determining whether the tale touches him.

"I feel the deeper you go into our own culture, the more international the film will be," said Khan.

The formula evidently works: Khan's interpretation of a stubborn, hard-bitten former wrestler has made Dangal the highest-grossing Indian film of all time in China, earning 1.3 billion yuan in 2017.

Khan said only a few Chinese films have been widely released in India, and he would like to see more Chinese films screened in his country to help locals get to know the culture and life of their neighboring country.

In what may come as a surprise even to his most diehard Chinese fans, Khan said he is fascinated with the story of Wei Xiaobao, a rags-to-riches protagonist created by martial arts novelist Louis Cha for his classic The Deer and the Cauldron.

Khan's attraction to Wei's fictional account, set during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is a good example of how a tale that examines the complexity of humanity can cross borders, said Yin Hong, a professor at Tsinghua University.

He said the most successful movies are not those tailored to cater to the market, but the stories that convey emotion and value.

In North America, the top-earning Chinese films remain Ang Lee's Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Zhang Yimou's martial arts epic Hero, said Yin.

Although it's no secret that martial arts flicks have earned a place for Chinese films in the West, Yin said those two films stand out for their reflection of Chinese moral values.

Hong Kong director Stanley Tong recalled he was hooked by Charlie Chaplin's emotional comedies when he was a child in 1960s.

"Love, fear and hatred, as well as respecting elders and protecting children, are shared and understood in all times in all countries, and they can all be told in films," Tong said.