Chinese films aim for success at NY Asian Film Festival

In China cinema attendance in gaining in numbers. Last year it saw box
office takings of almost $8 billion US dollars - nearly 20% of the
global $40 billion dollar sales.

In comparison, movie theater attendance in North American is at a 22-year low.

And Chinese made-movies are still struggling to break into the
American mainstream.

Nick Harper reports from the New York Asian Film Festival on the
movies trying to make it big in the U.S.

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TAKE VO
The Chinese film noir thriller 'Wrath of Silence' is making noise in New York.
It's driven characters and unexpected plot twists have drawn
comparisons to the Cohen Brothers. Its director Xin Yukun even admits
he was heavily influenced by the revenge-driven, bleak landscaped
Westerns of American cinema.
But bringing it to the New York Asian Film Festival presents other challenges.
For a country where blockbusters dominate the box office, foreign
language films often flounder.
But Xin hopes showcasing his movie in America could help widen the
appeal of Chinese cinema.

SOT - Xin Yukun, Director
"I definitely believe this is an ongoing process. But the reason we
bring this film to different film exhibitions is to show more of our
foreign audience today's Chinese movies. People rarely have these
kinds of opportunities to learn about China's culture. I feel like
movies would be a great opening window."

TAKE VO
The star of 'Wrath of Silence', Jiang Wu, received an Asian Star Award
at the Festival for his performance.
He believes, for English-speaking audiences, the movie can transcend
barriers of understanding, and speak a common language.

SOT - Jiang Wu, Chinese actor
"I think all good movies have commonalities. No matter if they are
Chinese or American movies, as long as they are good, people will
appreciate and understand them."

TAKE VO
This year's festival is focusing mainland China movies, like
serial-killer thriller The Looming Storm and comedy Looking for Lucky.
The festival director, Samuel Jamier, says that decision reflects
developments in Chinese cinema.

SOT - Samuel Jamier, Director
"In the past few years I think China has assumed a central position,
which seems to make sense in many ways, so it was only natural that we
should adjust to that state of affairs as well. And quite frankly the
film making has become tremendously sophisticated - every year there's
a rapid-fire evolution in different genres."

TAKE VO
Despite that Jamier believes that American audiences are still not
that receptive to Chinese-made movies - something not helped but what
movies make it to U.S. theaters.

SOT - Samuel Jamier, Director
"I think we're still a little bit behind in the west overall, I think
what you'd see in the mainstream outlets in the west does not
necessarily reflect the reality of the situation back in China so I'd
say there's still a big discrepancy between the two."

TAKE VO
The New York Asian Film Festival aims to realign and correct
preconceptions, and showcase the variety and strength of Chinese
cinema today.
SOC

ENDS