On the afternoon of 2 November, the “Golden Rooster Film Forum · Academic Forum”, hosted by the China Film Association and the Xiamen Municipal People’s Government and organised by the Film Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, was held at the Tianyuan Hotel in Xiamen. The theme of the forum was “Drawing on the Source of Traditional Culture, Presenting New Film Aesthetics”.
Yin Hong, Vice Chairman of the China Film Association and Professor at Tsinghua University, addressed the forum. Attending were academic experts, filmmakers, critics and industry experts including Liu Bing, member of the Party Group and Deputy Secretary-General of the China Film Association; Rao Shuguang, film theorist and President of the China Film Critics Association; Huo Tingxiao, council member of the China Film Association and President of the China Film Art Design Society; writer and screenwriter Ran Ping; Zhao Weifang, Director and Research Fellow of the Film and Television Institute of the Chinese National Academy of Arts and Vice President of the China Film Critics Association; Zhang Wei, Executive Vice President of the China Film Critics Association; Wang Zhimin, Professor at the Beijing Film Academy; Wu Guanping, Professor at the Chinese Film Culture Research Institute of the Beijing Film Academy; Chen Xuguang, Professor at the School of Arts of Peking University, Director of the Peking University Film, Television and Theatre Research Center and Changjiang Scholar; Peng Jian, member of the Party Committee and Research Fellow of the School of Cultural Industries Management of the Communication University of China; Liang Junjian, Deputy Director of the Cultural and Creative Finance Research Center of the PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, and Associate Professor at the Tsinghua University School of Journalism and Communication; film critic A Lang, Editor-in-Chief of Movie View magazine; and Zhang Kai, Director of Audio and Video Industry Development at Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. The forum was moderated by Huangfu Yichuan, Research Fellow at the China Film Art Research Center and Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Cinema.
Moderator: Research Fellow at the China Film Art Research Center and Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Cinema, Huangfu Yichuan
The theme of the academic forum was studying and implementing the guiding principles of the important speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the meeting on cultural inheritance and development. Discussion centred on continuing to promote the flourishing of film from a new historical starting point, carrying forward fine traditional Chinese culture, and advancing the development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. The forum brought together academic experts, critics and representatives of filmmakers to focus on the year’s academic topics and, from an aesthetic perspective, discuss how to connect traditional culture with Chinese cinema, the mainstream of the times, audiences and the world, so as to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture and tell China’s stories well.
Yin Hong, Vice Chairman of the China Film Association and Professor at Tsinghua University
In his address, Yin Hong, Vice Chairman of the China Film Association and Professor at Tsinghua University, pointed out that Xi Jinping Thought on Culture sets out the roadmap for cultural development in the new era and provides a powerful ideological weapon and a scientific guide to action for taking on the new cultural mission. Culture bears on the foundation and destiny of a country; it is the spirit and soul of a nation. Chinese filmmakers should adhere to a people-centred approach, carry forward the Chinese cultural heritage, draw nourishment from fine traditional Chinese culture, create more outstanding works, meet the people’s spiritual needs and expectations for a better life, provide spiritual strength for national rejuvenation, and lead the greater development of Chinese cinema in the future with more fine works.
The forum was divided into keynote speeches, keywords of the year, report releases, a roundtable dialogue and a book launch, five sessions in all.
Keynote Speech
Rao Shuguang, film theorist and President of the China Film Critics Association
Rao Shuguang, film theorist and President of the China Film Critics Association, delivered a keynote speech titled “Promoting the Sustainable Prosperity of Chinese Cinema with Cultural Confidence”. Examining several paths for the sustainable prosperity of Chinese cinema from a methodological perspective, he said that the high-quality development of Chinese cinema should be driven by confidence in its culture, its art and its aesthetics.
Keywords of the Year
Director and Research Fellow of the Film and Television Institute of the Chinese National Academy of Arts and Vice President of the China Film Critics Association, Zhao Weifang
Wang Zhimin, Professor at the Beijing Film Academy
Chen Xuguang, Professor at the School of Arts of Peking University, Director of the Peking University Film, Television and Theatre Research Center and Changjiang Scholar
In the keywords session, Zhao Weifang, Director and Research Fellow of the Film and Television Institute of the Chinese National Academy of Arts and Vice President of the China Film Critics Association, took “traditional culture” as his keyword and delivered a speech titled “Traditional Culture: An Innovative Resource for Chinese Film Narrative”. He said that the current improvement in Chinese film narrative represents progress in Chinese film art. This progress is a return of the traditional narrative of Chinese cinema on the basis of innovation, a meeting point between contemporary Chinese film art and the spirit of traditional Chinese art, and a concrete practice of the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture today.
Wang Zhimin, Professor at the Beijing Film Academy, took “artificial intelligence” as his keyword and delivered a speech titled “Artificial Intelligence: Application Scenarios and Prospects of AI Technology in Film Aesthetics”. He said that the function of film aesthetics is to safeguard the effective transmission or expression of the information of film art; film aesthetics needs technological support, and with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, film aesthetics is a very important application scenario for AI.
Chen Xuguang, Professor at the School of Arts of Peking University, Director of the Peking University Film, Television and Theatre Research Center and Changjiang Scholar, took “cultural innovation” as his keyword and delivered a speech titled “Cultural Innovation: Imagination Consumption and the Aesthetic Expression of Chinese Cinema”, discussing the influence of imagination consumption in the internet era on the cultural innovation of Chinese cinema and the new aesthetic expressions it has produced.
Report Releases
Peng Jian, member of the Party Committee and Research Fellow of the School of Cultural Industries Management of the Communication University of China
Liang Junjian, Deputy Director of the Cultural and Creative Finance Research Center of the PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, and Associate Professor at the Tsinghua University School of Journalism and Communication
Two reports were released in this session. Peng Jian, member of the Party Committee and Research Fellow of the School of Cultural Industries Management of the Communication University of China, and Liang Junjian, Deputy Director of the Cultural and Creative Finance Research Center of the PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, and Associate Professor at the Tsinghua University School of Journalism and Communication, jointly released “Observations on Investment and Financing in the Chinese Film Industry 2012-2022 • 2023 Chinese Film Investment and Financing Report”. “Observations on Investment and Financing in the Chinese Film Industry 2012-2022” summarises the overall characteristics and trends of film investment and financing in China from 2012 to 2022 and analyses how film investment and financing can return to its essence. The “2023 Chinese Film Investment and Financing Report” gives an overall review and in-depth analysis of this year’s film investment and financing from five aspects: the private equity market of the film industry, analysis of listed film companies, investment and financing in film projects and film market trends in the post-pandemic era, a comparison of the recovery of the film market and of consumption in the post-pandemic era, and the impact of local policies.
Zhang Kai, Director of Audio and Video Industry Development at Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Zhang Kai, Director of Audio and Video Industry Development at Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., released the “Research Report on AIGC Artificial Intelligence and Film Development”. The report looks at the macro trends, technical hotspots and technical principles of the AIGC industry and its innovative practice in film, including key technologies such as large AIGC models and the problems and challenges they face, and offers ideas and suggestions for the application of AIGC in film.
Roundtable Dialogue
Moderator: Zhang Wei, Executive Vice President of the China Film Critics Association
The roundtable dialogue, moderated by Zhang Wei, Executive Vice President of the China Film Critics Association, brought together experts and scholars, filmmakers and film critics to discuss the connections between traditional culture and Chinese cinema, the mainstream of the times, audiences and the world.
Film critic A Lang, Editor-in-Chief of Movie View magazine
Huo Tingxiao, council member of the China Film Association and President of the China Film Art Design Society
Writer and screenwriter Ran Ping
Wu Guanping, Professor at the Chinese Film Culture Research Institute of the Beijing Film Academy
The guests in the dialogue were Huo Tingxiao, council member of the China Film Association and President of the China Film Art Design Society; writer and screenwriter Ran Ping; Wu Guanping, Professor at the Chinese Film Culture Research Institute of the Beijing Film Academy; and film critic A Lang, Editor-in-Chief of Movie View magazine. The experts agreed that film, as an important medium carrying culture, faces under new historical conditions and opportunities the task of drawing on, inheriting and renewing traditional cultural resources. Looking at film from the perspective of traditional culture means exploring the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture, combining it with the tastes of today’s audiences, expressing the Chinese aesthetic tradition and the spirit of the times, advancing cultural confidence and self-reliance, helping Chinese culture reach the world, and continuously enhancing the country’s cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture.
Moderator: Zhang Wei Guests from left to right: Huo Tingxiao, Ran Ping, Wu Guanping, A Lang
Book Launch
At the book launch, Liu Bing, member of the Party Group and Deputy Secretary-General of the China Film Association, launched the new book Art Appraisal of the 2022 China Golden Rooster Awards. The second volume in the series, it builds on the first volume’s art appraisal and continues to use criticism to promote mainstream values in film, drive innovative development and lead trends in film aesthetics. The book has four parts. The first, written mainly by Golden Rooster jurors, offers professional commentary on the artistic achievements and creative breakthroughs of the year’s winning works and winners. The second, written mainly by senior scholars in various fields, gives a comprehensive and in-depth assessment of the artistic exploration of the year’s nominated works and nominees. The third, written mainly by the year’s winners, traces the making of the winning works and the thinking behind them and sums up their creative experience. The fourth, new this year, for the first time brings the highest honour of “CFLAC Lifetime Achievement Film Artist” into the scope of the annual appraisal, aiming to offer an objective, rational and warm assessment of the aesthetic style, philosophical thought and artistic life of veteran artists of both virtue and skill and their works, so as to give today’s filmmakers more inspiration and strength.
