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Art film program benefits public and culture
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While many art film directors cannot afford to get their works placed in theater chains, Hangzhou’s government is running a program to screen art films at local cinemas.
It’s the first of its kind in the country.
The Hangzhou Public Art Cinema Program began last weekend with a film exhibition, and plans to screen three to four domestic art films in cinemas every two months. Art films produced both at home and abroad will be shown with subsidized ticket prices from 15 yuan to 35 yuan (US$2.46 to US$5.74). All art films have English subtitles.
It aims to “strengthen the city’s soft power” and “to be an influential program that can attract audiences,” the program’s organizers said in a statement.
The government has allocated over 600,000 yuan to run the program.
Subsidized tickets also will be offered for commercial movies by the program as well. A total of 600,000 seats will be offered annually in the program, with 200,000 set aside for art films.
The film exhibition that kicked off the program showcases six domestic art films until March 9. Well-known film critics and curators Wei Xidi and Shui Guai selected the films.
The first film shown at the opening ceremony was “Don’t Expect Praise,” written and directed by Yang Jin, which was chosen as a selection of the youth-oriented Generation Program of the Berlin International Film Festival this year.
“I am encouraged,” says Peng Peng, a local independent director. “Maybe one day my work can be played both at film festivals and in theater chains.”
Officials of the Film and TV Department of Hangzhou Bureau of Culture, Radio, TV, Film, Press and Publication say they want to build a public service system of film to serve Hangzhou citizens, to build on the film programs already sponsored by Hangzhou government.
The other film programs include Hangzhou Micro-film International Exhibition held last year and several projects to provide free cinema tickets to groups such as retirees or migrant children who might not otherwise get to go to the movies.
The bureau and the Hangzhou Development and Study Center are sponsors of the program.
Participating organizations include the Hangzhou Westlake Film Promotion Association, the Institute for International Film and TV Development of Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Star Lights Cinema Chain Company, Hangzhou Zeyi Movie Theater and Hangzhou Jinxiang Cinema.
“The government wants to promote the city for its cinema culture, and so does academia,” said Shan Zuolong, head of the program and also director of Film Festival Department of the Institute for International Film and TV Development of Zhejiang University.
For the first half year of the Hangzhou Public Art Cinema Program, Hangzhou Zeyi Movie Theater in Qianjiang New Town and Hangzhou Jinxiang Cinema on Dengyun Road will both provide theaters with 130 seats each.
More cinemas are expected to participate in the program after half a year’s operation.
Follow the program’s weibo (http://weibo.com/u/5043608058 to check the schedule of the films.
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