Growing calls in China to make space for art-house films

A poster of Mountains May Depart directed by Jia Zhangke [Photo/mtime.com]

"The art-house films with their aesthetics and personal stories should be a must-have part of the Chinese movie industry," says Lu.

China's box-office receipts soared to a record 44.1 billion yuan ($6.68 billion) in 2015, up nearly 50 percent year on year. And the latest figures show that China has surpassed the United States to top the world's box-office charts in February.

Meanwhile, as China anticipates overtaking the US to become the world's largest movie market in 2017, international film festivals are still the major portal for art-house filmmakers in the country.

But Handling, who has observed Chinese filmmakers for decades, regards this as a global phenomenon.

With regard to China's film industry, Handling says that most of the changes in China's movie market have been brought about by the country's economic development in the past years.

"The conditions are perfect for the Chinese film industry to take off. And modernization and the building of new cinemas in the past years have boosted the film industry," he says.

"China also has very talented filmmakers and the rest of the world is seeking more cooperation with them."

Xie Fei, a top director, says that film festivals have always been a key supplement to the major market.

"Some cinematic masterpieces, such as Citizen Kane and Spring in a Small Town, received poor market responses when they were released. But they are still remembered as classics thanks to the festivals."