BJIFF Translation forum, photo provided by Communication University of China.
International participants at a translation forum on the sidelines of the on-going Beijing International Film Festival say Chinese movie and TV drama exports are in demand. And China is working hard to satisfy that appetite.
Khalilou Ndiaye, distributor with Digital Cinema from Senegal told CGTN that Chinese movie and TV contents are relatively new and hard to get in his country. But with China's growing influence in Africa, people hope to learn more about China.
Ehab Hamed with Vibration TV from Egypt also said that a growing demand for Chinese contents has yet to be met. He said the first Arabic-dubbed Chinese TV drama only went into Egypt five years ago. With more than 350 million Arabic speakers in the region, he said a lot of people will watch Chinese movies and TV if they have access to it.
He also said Chinese cartoons and historical plays would prove to be popular in Egypt.
May-Britt Wilkens, independent translator from Germany also said that "we don't have enough Chinese contents as we should."
China is set to become the world's No.1 film market and producer by 2021. It has made more than 900 films in 2017. But Wilkens said not many of the movies made it to Europe.
She has taken things into her own hands now, translating some of China's popular TV dramas to German, including the hit Chinese period drama, "Nirvana in Fire", or "Lang Ya Bang".
China is also doing similar work.
Ma Li, with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said at the translation workshop on Tuesday that China is stepping in the new era, and "China's cultural products will go out far overseas." She said in the last five years, China has launched special programs between China and Africa, translating each other's movie and dramas into their own language. There are also programs to promote such communication between China and countries along the Belt and Road route.
More of such exchange programs will be rolled out soon, said Ma.
