French director desires collaboration with Chinese filmmakers

China's film market has been recovering in the post-epidemic era and, with its bright prospects, has become an essential consideration for international filmmakers.

French director Frederic Auburtin is just one of them. It was a Chinese film shot in Yunnan three years ago that helped him develop close relationship with Chinese filmmakers and producers. Frederic shared his excitement with China Daily while interviewing at the Beijing International Film Festival Monday.

Auburtin showed his interest in working with Chinese filmmakers because of their "incredible talent" and the "unique energy" they bring to the production. He praised his previous experiences cooperating with Chinese and Vietnamese producers as "absolutely unique" experiences that he hoped to replicate.

Auburtin explained at the days-long festival that it has been a great opportunity to see "a new birth of fresh air in the Chinese film industry" in the post-epidemic era and he believed it is now the perfect time to collaborate with Chinese filmmakers on new and interesting projects.

"It is important to develop and share new ideas and techniques, rather than remaining selfish and closed off," said Auburtin, who is confident he will create very interesting films with his Chinese partners.

When asked how to cooperate due to their different cultural elements, he said cultural and language barriers are not so easy to understand but their unique way to tell stories with different perspectives is what is valuable for filmmakers and audiences alike.

He shared this idea while commenting on commercial versus artistic films. Auburtin said it is the same as music - good ones come in all shapes. The quality of a film "depends on who is part of the creative process" rather than whether it is commercially driven or artistically focused, he explained.