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Director takes the arthouse path
By Chehui Peh |
June 30, 2012, Saturday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
DIRECTOR Zhang Yang feels that the best part of the Shanghai International Film Festival is the different movies and worlds that local audiences can be exposed to.
"Giving locals the opportunity to see a wide variety of movies from all over the world widens their perspective, not to mention providing the excitement of buying tickets and seeing their favorite film stars," Zhang tells Shanghai Daily.
A member of the film festival jury, Zhang is known for his realistic style of filming and artistic inclinations.
"Being a jury member is different - I get to sit down, enjoy the movies, learn from them and study them. It's a different experience from directing."
Although Zhang feels some films were not standouts, "overall, the standard is great."
Zhang's latest movie, Full Circle, released this year, was not as big a hit as expected, on the basis of his golden track record that has won him multiple awards, including the 2005 San Sebastian International Film Festival's Best Director for Sunflowers.
"Movies are one-off products," says Zhang. "But the Chinese movie market is different as you can only fight with blockbusters. My last film was about elderly people, so how can you expect to compete with blockbusters?
"The question is, how do you get low budget artistic films into mainstream markets?"
Despite relatively low takings, Zhang believes in using his own preferences and tastes to direct a movie rather than accommodating the market.
"If I accommodated it, I would only have one possible road to go down. It's important for directors to find their own individuality and vision. If you followed the demands of the audience, where would your artistic vision be?"
Zhang feels he has now chosen his path.
"I feel like I am leaving the mainstream market behind. I guess I will be going for artistic movies after this," says Zhang with a hearty laugh.
"Giving locals the opportunity to see a wide variety of movies from all over the world widens their perspective, not to mention providing the excitement of buying tickets and seeing their favorite film stars," Zhang tells Shanghai Daily.
A member of the film festival jury, Zhang is known for his realistic style of filming and artistic inclinations.
"Being a jury member is different - I get to sit down, enjoy the movies, learn from them and study them. It's a different experience from directing."
Although Zhang feels some films were not standouts, "overall, the standard is great."
Zhang's latest movie, Full Circle, released this year, was not as big a hit as expected, on the basis of his golden track record that has won him multiple awards, including the 2005 San Sebastian International Film Festival's Best Director for Sunflowers.
"Movies are one-off products," says Zhang. "But the Chinese movie market is different as you can only fight with blockbusters. My last film was about elderly people, so how can you expect to compete with blockbusters?
"The question is, how do you get low budget artistic films into mainstream markets?"
Despite relatively low takings, Zhang believes in using his own preferences and tastes to direct a movie rather than accommodating the market.
"If I accommodated it, I would only have one possible road to go down. It's important for directors to find their own individuality and vision. If you followed the demands of the audience, where would your artistic vision be?"
Zhang feels he has now chosen his path.
"I feel like I am leaving the mainstream market behind. I guess I will be going for artistic movies after this," says Zhang with a hearty laugh.
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