Chinese films attract eyeballs at Toronto film festival

Chinese films and filmmakers attracted global attention at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which wrapped up on Sunday with an awarding ceremony.

Hosting its first Asian Film Summit aimed at bridging the gap between the East and the West, the 11-day festival had kicked off with a China-U.S. co-production called Looper.

Besides a marked increase in Chinese film presence and star power at TIFF, the festival made a special effort to bring Chinese filmmakers into the global limelight.

China's flourishing film industry has got recognized internationally as it was put in the spotlight of this global event.

"It's clear that there's a lot more happening in China now, new filmmakers, more filmmaking happening, bigger films as well and films that want to get out into the international marketplace," TIFF's artistic director Cameron Bailey told Xinhua.

"And the Toronto film festival has always been a place where films can make an international launch so they can be seen by all the major critics and industry people around the world," he added.

Dubbed as the second largest film industry in the world, China has been gaining more attraction in recent years.

Bailey said he believed there were a number of factors that were feeding into the growth, including increased financing from China, and an increase in Pan-Asian productions.

But at the heart of it all, he said it was mainly the shift in some Chinese filmmakers' works, notably Chan Kaige's Caught in the Web and Zhang Yuan's Beijing Flickers at the festival this year, which was really making a difference.

"Chinese filmmakers are paying more attention to the social changes that are happening in China, particularly the move from rural areas to the city," he said.

"For our audience in Toronto, they're fascinated by that. Many of them won't ever get a chance to go to Beijing, but they want to see what one of the most dynamic cities in the world looks like," Bailey said, noting that this shift in subject matter and a newfound creativity were all changes that have caught the attention of the international audience.

Kung Fu films, once dominated China's big screen presence, were no longer the go-to Chinese film genre for western audiences, he said.

"I think the audience is looking for more in Chinese cinema. They're looking for dramas, looking for comedies, love stories, a wider range. I think the real risk is people see Chinese cinema as only being martial arts stories or big period epics about fighting," said Bailey. "There's a large audience that's not that interested in those kind of movies and they want to see something that's maybe a little more on the human level."

And even for films like Stephen Fung's Tai Chi, which focuses on martial arts, they've got to change things up now with some new twists. The film features a steampunk, modern and unique take on the traditional genre.

"We wanted to create something very different from the traditional Kung Fu movies that you've seen for many many years, and I guess to break these old traditions we got to think of something really new and that would surprise audience, a lot of spectacles," Fung explained.

Bailey also offers some advise of his own to Chinese filmmakers.

While it may be tempting to just target its large local audience in China, he believes filmmakers should make an effort to appeal to international movie-goers and imagine what they might want from the film.

"It's a tough balance though because you don't want to alienate the Chinese audience that's your first audience of course, but you want to be able to communicate with all audiences as well," he said.

Lu Chuan's The Last Supper, an epic story about the fall of the Qin Dynasty, is a great example of how directors can appeal to both sides without sacrificing their voice and subject matter.

Premiering at TIFF where the majority of its audience have never heard of the Feast at Hong Gate or the Battle of Gaixia, Lu communicated to movie-goers through the universal values of humankind. With raw emotions taking center stage, the historical events become a back story to the vivid and intense characters.

"I think the key point is the story you want to tell is about your own history, but at the same time, it's something shared by human kind as a whole," said Lu. "You need to reflect not only Chinese history, but also human history."

Bailey said he was hoping future Chinese filmmakers would continue in the path of this year's Chinese filmmakers at TIFF like Lu Chuan, Chan Kaige, Fung and many others, and explore the dynamics of Chinese cinema.

This year's festival might have wrapped up all its glitz and glamor that drew a number of Chinese stars and culminated with some very productive talks at the Asian Film Summit which tackled issues on promoting Asian talent, handling finances and eliminating commercial borders and more. But Bailey said there was much more of that to look forward to in future years.

"We're committed to being a place where the Asian film industry can feel at home, can feel welcome and feel that this is their main opportunity every year to meet with the north American film industry," he said.

Known for its ability to generate an Oscar buzz, the festival has become a highly anticipated event for some major filmmakers and celebrities including Bruce Willis, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry who were all in town last week.