The “Golden Rooster Forum Debut” of the 33rd China Golden Rooster Awards was held at the Tianyuan Hotel in Xiamen. Leading figures from both in front of and behind the camera in Chinese cinema gathered to review the film trends of 2020 and to “forge a way forward” for Chinese cinema under the new normal of the pandemic.
On the morning of November 25, 2020, the first forum event of the Golden Rooster Awards, “Golden Rooster Forum Debut: Reviewing the Film Trends of 2020”, was held in Xiamen. Director Yin Li, actress Yong Mei, and guests from the film world including Wang Zhonglei, Tan Fei, Li Xingwen, Wang Hailin and Song Fangjin attended and each gave a keynote speech. At this first forum event, Yin Li, Yong Mei, Wang Zhonglei and others discussed the distinctive “film phenomena” of 2020 and the outlook for future development. At the subsequent “China Film Investment Conference · Summit Forum”, guests discussed new approaches to film investment, and Xiamen film and television industry projects worth nearly 20 billion yuan were signed on site.
Their different roles in the industry gave the guests different perspectives on the distinctive film phenomena of 2020 and on future trends in Chinese cinema.
With the world affected by the pandemic, Chinese filmmakers were able to gather at the Golden Rooster Awards, which Yin Li described as “a rare opportunity for collective creation, reflection, re-creation and further reflection”. A veteran of many years in the industry, he has paid attention this year to the internet as a creative context of the new era. More and more online films are now earning both good reviews and strong revenue-sharing box office, which in Yin Li’s view shows that the internet has opened a new direction for film.
From the resumption of work and production in the summer season to the strong return of the National Day holiday season, commentator Tan Fei noticed the “ten-billion-yuan actors” who repeatedly emerged along the upward “recovery” curve of the Chinese film market, which ran against the global trend.
The box office success of films such as The Eight Hundred and My People, My Homeland was achieved through the combined efforts of actors, directors, crews and the entire creative model. Rather than the “praise that kills” of focusing on box office alone, Tan Fei hoped these “ten-billion-yuan actors” would become “conscientious actors”, since it was their “conscientious performances” that made these films.
Yong Mei, Best Actress at the previous Golden Rooster Awards, may not have a “ten-billion-yuan box office”, but she is one of the film world’s “conscientious actors”. As the only woman at the forum, she took on the topic of the “40-plus actress”, which has attracted much attention for some time. The market that comes with age brings anxiety, but at the start of her speech Yong Mei said she did not want to “spread anxiety”.
Throughout her talk, Yong Mei did not try to persuade with “grand principles”, but shared her insights through the changes in her own life. She said that “40-plus actresses cannot be summed up by that label”; each of them is a life, someone who can become a character and help make a work, and even a pillar of a family or a city.
Behind the “recovery” of the Chinese film market that Tan Fei mentioned, one of the main contributors was The Eight Hundred. As its producer, Wang Zhonglei had “mixed feelings” about its success. The Eight Hundred remained the top-grossing film worldwide in 2020. Although some questioned this claim, in Wang Zhonglei’s view it was precisely because Chinese films still overcame difficulties and succeeded amid the global pandemic that the efforts and resilience of Chinese filmmakers were all the more evident.
Wang Hailin and Song Fangjin, both known for their outspoken views, spoke that day about screenwriting. Wang Hailin noted that China still has too few good screenplays, which should give screenwriters a sense of urgency: “Many people are too restless and write for the market and the box office, but they should not forget to write for their own hearts.” Critic Li Xingwen also shared his views on several works and filmmakers nominated for this year’s Golden Rooster Awards.
