March14,2018,Beijing:ApressconferenceonthedebutofSeason3ofABiteofChina,afooddocumentarythatsweptthecountry.VCGSince2012,followingtheimmensepopularityofthefooddocumentaryABiteofChinaacrossthecountry,moreandmoredomesticChinesedocumentarieshavebeenreleased.
InApril2018,theDocumentaryResearchCenterofBeijingNormalUniversityreleasedtheResearchReportonChina’sDocumentaryDevelopment2018(hereinafterreferredtoasReport),whichstatedthatthedevelopmentoftheChinesedocumentaryindustryisacceleratingandhasenteredan“eraofacceleratedgrowth.”
TheReportprovidedacomprehensivesummaryofthedevelopmentofChinesedocumentariesin2017.
ItmentionedaChinesedocumentarythatreceivedatheatricalreleaselastyear:TwentyTwodirectedbyGuoKe,whowasborninthe1980s.Itisalengthydocumentaryrecountingthestoriesofformer“comfortwomen”stilllivinginChina.Insteadofpilinguphistoricalarchives,itobjectivelyrecordedthecurrentlivingconditionsoftheremainingsurvivors.Its170-million-yuanboxofficeearningsbroketherecordforaChinesedocumentaryfilm.
Productionofhistoricalandculturaldocumentariesismaturing,asevidencedbySeason3ofAroundChina—Homesickness,whichdepictslivesintraditionalChinesevillages,andSeason2ofTheTalesofChineseMedicine,whichfocusesontraditionalChinesemedicine.Thequantityofnationalthemeddocumentarieshasalsorisen,withstandoutssuchasArielChina,usingbigbudgetsandadvancedproductiontechniquestocapturegrandspectacles.
AnotherprimeexampleisBorninChina,aSino-U.S.co-productiononrarewildanimals.AmericanfilmcriticOwenGleibermannotedthatthedocumentarymovie’s“mostprogressiveeffectistounveilthemajesticdiversityofChineselandscapes.”Moreover,BorninChinabeateveryotherdocumentaryinboxofficeearningsintheUnitedStatesin2017withUS$13.87million.
StatisticsshowthattheannualrevenueofChinesedocumentariesin2017exceeded6billionyuan,anincreaseof15percentoverthepreviousyear.
TheReportdeterminedthatfromtheperspectiveofthesourcesofcreationandthechannelsofbroadcast,ChinesedocumentarieshaveformedabasicpatternofbroadcastmainlyonspecializeddocumentarychannelsandsatelliteTVchannels,withonlineplatformsandcinemachainsassupplements.ManysatelliteTVdocumentaries,suchasTheTalesofChineseMedicine,havegoneintosyndicationandbecomestrongbrands.
Chinahasseengreatprogressinitsnewmediadocumentaries.Chinesevideowebsitesarevyingtocultivatethemarket,andtheyhaveinvestedinthedevelopmentoforiginal“home-made”documentaries.Documentaryshortvideosarealsoemerging.
Withtheadventofthenewmediaera,theChinesedocumentaryindustryisembracingattractiveopportunitiesfordevelopment.
ZhangTongdao,anexpertwhoworkedontheReportanddirectorofBeijingNormalUniversity’sDocumentaryResearchCenter,believesthatnotonlyshoulddocumentariescaptureasolidmarketshare,butmoreimportantly,theyshouldcreateaChinesedocumentaryculturebrand.
“Lastyear,theglobaldocumentaryindustrywitnessedanunprecedentedprosperity,evidencedbytheemergenceofanumberofmasterpieces,”saidZhang.“However,onlyahandfulofphenomenalworksevermadeanimpactbigenoughtobecomesymbolicofthetimes.Atanewhistoricalprecipice,ChinesedocumentaryworkersshouldseizetheopportunitytoconsolidatetheirexpertiseandhelpmoreoutstandingChinesedocumentariesgoglobalandwininternationalrecognition.”
October29,2014:CrewofAroundChina—Homesickness,a100-episodedocumentaryseriesproducedbyChinaCentralTelevision(CCTV),whiletheyshootinExiangCountyinHeiheCity,HeilongjiangProvince.ICChinaNeedsDocumentariestoRecordtheEra
——InterviewwithZhangTongdao,direc-toroftheDocumentaryResearchCenterofBeijingNormalUniversity
ChinaPictorial(CP):Asadocumentaryfilmdirectorandresearcher,howdoyoudefineagooddocumentary?
Zhang:Agooddocumentary,firstofall,mustprovideauniquehumanisticdiscovery.Second,itneedstoexplorenewexpressivewaystoformunfamiliarexpressionsofaestheticsandcreateavisualfeastfortheaudience.Third,itmustbewell-madetogiveviewersathrillingviewingexperience.AposterfortheTVdocumentaryTheTalesofChineseMedicine,whichhasbeensyndicatedandbecomeabrandname.IC
AposterforTwentyTwo,alengthydocumentarythatrecountsthestoriesofsurviving“comfortwomen”stilllivinginChina.Releasedin2017ontheChinesemainland,its170-million-yuanboxofficeearningsbroketherecordforaChinesedocumentaryfilm.ICCP:Inrecentyears,whatbreakthroughshaveChinesedocumentariesmadeincontent?
Zhang:ThecontentofChinesedocumentaryfilmshasexpandedconsiderablyinrecentyears.
First,culturalthemeshaveexpandedsignificantly,bothinbreadthanddepth.WehaveseenmanynewandinterestingexpressionsoftraditionalChineseculture.Forexample,theproductiondesignsoftraditionalChinesemedicine(TCM)seriessuchasHerbalChina,TheTalesofChineseMedicineandYoungTCMPractitionersareverymarket-orientedandmeetthedemandsoftheirtargetdemographic.AnotherexampleistheprogramFollowtheTraceoftheTang-DynastyPoetry(2017)byCCTV,whichfoundnewwaystoexpressthelegacyofancientChinesepoetry.
Second,documentariesarecuttingdeeperintotheirsubjects’livesandemotions.Forexample,TheMirror(2017)exploresemotionalissuessuchasparentchildrelationshipsandhowChinesefamiliesfunctioninthecurrentera.LifeMatters(2016)takesadeeplookatthemeaningoflife.
Moreover,breakthroughshavebeenmadeonhistoricalsubjectsinworkssuchasTheTurningPointsofHistory(2016).InsteadofsimplytellingstoriesofChinesehistory,thedocumentaryTVseriesinterpretsitfromvariousperspectivesandrecreatesscenestoilluminatetheinherentmotivatingfactorsofChinesehistoricalchanges.
It’sworthmentioningthatthecharacterconfigurationofheroesandleaders,whoareoftenflatlydepictedintraditionalChinesedocumentariesasheroicfigures,hasundergonetremendouschanges.ThebestexamplemightbeTheChineseMayor(2015)byZhouHao,whichpaintsacomplexportraitofalocalpolitician.
CP:HowdoesChinacreateaculturalbrandfordocumentaries?
Zhang:Culturalbrandsneedstablequality,aestheticstyleandstrongvalues.
TheChinesedocumentarybrandisprominentintheABiteofChinaseries,butworksthatreinforceitarefewandthesubjectmatterisweakcomparedtoproductionsfromBritainandtheUnitedStates.
WecannotjustrelyondocumentaryfilmmakerstocreateaChinesedocumentaryculturebrand.Theindustrymustintegratewithfinanceandmarketingtocreateaculturalbrandwithrealmarketvalueandsocialinfluence.
CP:TheChinesegovernmentadvocatestheideaof“tellingChinesestoriesinaninternationalway.”HowcanChinesedocumentariesgoglobalandhelpenhanceChina’sinternationalinfluence?
Zhang:TobuildChinesedocumentariesintoabridgeforcross-culturalcommunication,thefundamentalrequirementiscultivatingpeoplewithcross-culturalthinkingandsensibilities.
Internationalcommunicationdoesn’tmeanmuchwithoutmarketperformance.Unfortunately,Chinahasnotyetproducedanythingverynaturallyattractivetoforeignmarkets.
Chinastillhasrelativelylimitedtalentwithcross-culturalsensibilities,nottomentionalackofmindswiththeability,visionandawarenesstotellstoriesproperly.
CP:WhatisthevalueofdocumentariesforChinatoday?
Zhang:Today,Chinaneedsdocumentariestodowhattheydo:documenttheera.Thedocumentarynotonlyusesimagestotrulyrecordcurrentcultural,educationalandothersocialconditions,butitalsodeeplyreflectssocietythroughanartist’sobservation,thinkingandartisticrefinement.Agooddocumentarycapturesaclearpicturethatviewerswanttosee.
April8,2017,NewYork,U.S.A.:ThepremiereofBorninChina,featuringrarespeciesofwildanimalsinChina.ASino-U.S.co-production,BorninChinabeateveryotherdocumentaryinboxofficeearningsin2017withUS$13.87millionintheUnitedStates.VCG