Paving the road to cultural exchange through film
- By Niu Mengdi
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Building a Platform for Cooperation
The BRICS Film Festival has been fully engaged in building a platform for friendship and pragmatic and efficient cooperation between the film makers and the film industries of the BRICS countries.
Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Art Jia Leilei said, "It is truly wonderful to see the five BRICS countries taking turns to host this film festival, which not only facilitates cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world, but also breaks down cultural barriers, and defuses the sense of unfamiliarity between each of the BRICS countries. With that brings an abundance of diverse cultures to showcase in front of each of the countries' peoples."
President of Bona Film Group Yu Dong described his experience at the Cannes Film Festival: "When the Brazilian producers saw the Chinese film Shock Wave, they thought it wouldn't be that difficult to make in terms of the story's plot and character development, and so hoped to take this story and turn it into a Brazilian one, and they got some Brazilian actors and a Brazilian production team to work on it."
Film co-production is the key for promoting cultural exchange and developing the film industry of the BRICS countries. In producer Han Sanping's opinion, "Chinese films should not only cooperate in making films with Hollywood, but also with other BRICS countries, to develop the diversity of Chinese films."
Bringing Hearts Closer
The Indian film Dangal exploded in popularity in China, and quickly became a topic of hot debates amongst the guests from each country at this year's Road to BRICS Film Cooperation Forum. Chinese film maker Lu Chuan said, "This film made RMB 1.2 billion in ticket sales in China. Its success was entirely based on its passion and the power of its story." An official of India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stated, "The storyline of this film is very interesting. It is much more than just a sports film; it has a very moving and emotional part to it as well."
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The Russian delegation introduces their films on the Russian Film Day during the 2017 BRICS Film Festival. |
At the forum, producers from BRICS countries said they will take advantage of this mechanism for cooperation between their countries to strengthen and deepen cultural and artistic exchange and cooperation, to make film, the most internationalized, universal, and popular language on earth, serve as an emotional bond between each country's people.
Executive director of the Russian National Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and head of the Russian delegation Boris Mashtaler said, "The six Russian movies screened this year show the spirit and vitality of Russia, and through the platform of this film festival, have promoted the exchange of films among the BRICS." In his opinion, "Film is a language that can be understood by everyone without the need for translation. During the National Film Day events, not only can we screen BRICS country films to audiences of other nations, but it also allows all the film makers to learn from one another and draw from each other's strengths and inspirations."
How can you pull the hearts of people closer through co-production of a film? Producer of the Indian film Kasaav: Turtle Mohan Agashe suggested, "Although the current circumstances of each of the five countries are vastly different, there are many problems that we all face, and film is a wonderful medium for solving these common social issues. I propose that the next co-produced film be a silent film, that way the film itself will become a language without borders."
During the BRICS Film Festival, apart from the decision to create a new BRICS co-produced film every year for the next five years, many other similar cooperative projects, such as a BRICS film talent exchange and training program of Beijing Film Academy, were also announced. The Beijing Film Academy project plans to provide full scholarships to a total of 40 students from other BRICS countries over the next five years, and also start a series of activities including master workshops, and means for research cooperation for visiting scholars.
By using the language of film to narrow the distance between the peoples of the BRICS countries, during this second decade of BRICS cooperation, the five countries will garner even greater achievements in areas of film, business cooperation, and exchange.
Niu Mengdi is a reporter with Guangming Daily.
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