The Eighth Chinese Film Directors Professional Seminar, a three-day event held in Beijing this week, offered for a grand gathering of film directors and some of the most famous film stars of the Chinese language film world.

Starting on Sunday morning, the seminar was attended by more than 200 film directors from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao and the Chinese mainland, and also some Film Bureau officials.

During the seminar, the film directors and some actors and actresses carried out closed-door discussions about better tapping the potential of the film market, particularly the mainland.

Also, a candid dialogue occurred between film directors and some of the top officials, policy-makers, and market regulators from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

"I think the seminar was very productive and thought-provoking," said Li Shaohong.

The summary of minutes, checked and approved by the leaders of the Chinese Film Directors' Guild, was made public through Sina.com.cn, a Chinese language portal website, according to Li, vice-director of the guild.

At the seminar, Hong Kong filmmakers expressed their hopes of tapping the mainland market to help revitalize the Hong Kong film industry.

There the film sector has been in trouble for quite some time. In the early 1990s, the annual output of feature films in Hong Kong was around 240 but the number has nosedived in recent years.

In 2004 the number dropped to about 50. It is reported that only two local films Kung Fu Hustle and A World Without Thieves, both co-produced with the Chinese mainland, have been put on the market competing with a bunch of Hollywood films for the Christmas, New Year and Spring Festival seasons.

Feng Xiaogang pointed out that the lack of confidence in the mainland market has prevented the distributors of Hong Kong films from investing enough money and efforts to publicize and market their films.

In contrast, to ensure the success of A World Without Thieves, the film distributor put in a total of about 22 million yuan (US$2.65 million) in all kinds of publicity campaigns including TV screenings of the film's trailers, huge size film posters and hectic meeting events for production crew and moviegoers, Feng said.

"A key question we hope to tackle is to understand correctly the rules of the game and then play it right in the Chinese mainland film market," Hong Kong film Director Fruit Chan told local media a day before the annual seminar.

Due to a lack of understanding of the mainland market and existing film policies, some Hong Kong filmmakers and investors have suffered huge losses, Chan said, citing Eric Tsang Chi-Wai's Jiang Hu, a film depicting in-fights among local triads, for example.

"Last year, I presided over the examinations of 213 Chinese films, including a couple of films made in Hong Kong. A total of 212 were OKed. Only one film was turned down," Tong Gang, chief from the Film Bureau under the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) said at the seminar, referring to Tsang's "Jiang Hu."

Ng See-yuen, honorary head of the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild, said that Hong Kong filmmakers have yet taken full advantage of existing film policies to profit the mainland market.

But he also proposed a plan to establish closer co-operation between the Cantonese language-speaking region, referring to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Macao, Guangdong Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, so that Hong Kong films and TV programs can access a larger mainland audiences.

Zhang Hongsen, deputy chief from the Film Bureau of SARFT, told Taiwan filmmakers that their films can enter the mainland market through three channels, theatrical release, DVDs and TV screening.

However, Tong Gang encouraged filmmakers from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to co-produce more films with mainland film makers and film companies instead of concentrating on the introduction of their ready-made films to the mainland market.

"This is a simpler and easier way for you to tap the mainland film market," Tong said.

During the seminar, Taiwan filmmakers also expressed a strong interest in exploring further the mainland market and seeking closer ties with local film circles.

Over the past few years, the Taiwan film industry has also been shrinking in the face of fierce competition from imported films and other forms of entertainment. In the late 1960s, the annual output of feature films reached more than 200 but the output volume dropped to within 20 per year, local media reported.

Taiwan film director Alfred Cheung Kin-ting discussed in detail the approval procedures of new films for the mainland market with film officials at the seminar.

"I am betting on the mainland market," said Zheung, who moved to live in Beijing three years ago.

"I like to work here in Beijing, or in Shanghai. According to my own experiences, it is more rewarding as the living costs are low, the costs of film production are also very reasonable. Life and work on the mainland are convenient and comfortable," he said at the seminar.

(China Daily January 14, 2005)