CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Thursday, September 5, 2019 | 19 LIFE Chinese Cinema’s warm summer stories pack the screens After a relatively slow first half, the box office in China is catching up, thanks to a combination of Hollywood and domestic hits, Xu Fan reports. at festival CHICAGO — A packed audi­ espite predictions that it ence enjoyed the preview show­ would be a lackluster ing of Chinese dark comedy box­office season due to a Dying to Survive, a teaser for the first half slowdown, the ninth season of the Asian Pop­Up Dsummer has just concluded with a Cinema film festival in Chicago happy ending. that kicked off on Aug 28. Official statistic shows that the Asian Pop­Up Cinema, orga­ summer — usually a lucrative period nizer of the eponymous film festi­ lasting from June to August — raked val, presented the film at a in 17.65 billion yuan ($2.46 billion), theater in downtown Chicago. surging 1.6 percent year­on­year, “The word ‘nine’ rhymes with according to China Movie Data ‘forever’ in Chinese,” Sophia Information Network. The box office Wong Boccio, founder and execu­ figure represents a record high for tive director of Asian Pop­Up Cin­ the past five years. ema, says. Nearly 130 new films were “So the ninth season is a spe­ released during the three months. cial one and we hope it also Among them, 21 films saw their box­ means that the film festival will office receipts surpassing 100 million continue well into the future.” yuan, and five blockbusters earned This will also be the “biggest more than 1 billion yuan each. Chinese film screening season”, Theater admissions climbed to with five films from the Chinese 500 million, slightly more than 496 mainland, three from Hong Kong million recorded during the same and one from Taiwan to be period in 2018 and surpassing 474 nary people with real­life flaws. screened, Boccio says. million in 2017 by a considerable From learning how to quickly put “We have never featured so margin. on their firefighting gear, to rope many Chinese films in one sea­ Although tickets are becoming climb dozens of meters high above son before,” she adds. more expensive, bigger screens — the ground, Huang and the other Besides the featured preview which charge higher prices — are actors were trained for more than a of Dying to Survive, other films preferable. month by a domestic squadron of from China include Crossing the A report from Beacon — a movie real firemen. Border by Huo Meng, The Enig­ data tracker affiliated to Chinese The big­budget film also con­ ma of the Arrival by Song Wen, tech giant Alibaba Group — shows structed a life­size replica of the Dali­ Wushu Orphan by Huang Huang the average ticket price rose to 35.32 an port’s oil tank storage area in a and Shadow by Zhang Yimou. yuan per person this summer, 2.4 studio located in Hebei province, “Films have been thoughtfully percent higher than last year. covering an area of 50,000 square curated to represent authentic Maoyan’s film­revenue tracker meters and using 50 fire engines. voices of Asia,” says Boccio. “A finds that Imax China’s box­office Instead of generating images by majority of which will be Chicago takings rose 18.2 percent this sum­ computer, much of the blaze and premieres.” mer, compared to the same period explosion in the film are real and The genres of the films in this last year, marking the best perform­ were re­created on set. season include musicals, court­ ance ever for Imax. Rao Shuguang, president of the room thrillers, family dramas The biggest surprise of the sum­ China Film Critics Association, says and comedies. mer was the domestic dark horse, Ne The Bravest has raised the bar for Dying to Survive is based on a Zha, an animated retelling of a well­ Chinese disaster films, signifying the true story. Cheng Yong is under known figure in Chinese mythology. domestic industry has improved in contract to help a sick man obtain It was the top contributor to the box producing big action sequences. illegally­imported medicine for office bonanza. Aside from Ne Zha and The Brav­ leukemia. Exploring modern topics such as est, four other Chinese films — The However, he soon finds himself parenting and self­control through White Storm 2: Drug Lords, Looking in a gang of unlikely smugglers an ancient tale with exquisite anima­ Up, Line Walker 2: Invisible Spy, striving to help thousands of tion, the story about a rebellious hero and My Best Summer — have patients get access to the much­ has become a runaway hit, grossing a squeezed their way into the top 10 needed medicine at reasonable whopping 4.74 billion yuan as of Unlike a few years highest­grossing films of the sum­ prices, until they’re reported to Tuesday. mer, outnumbering foreign titles. the police. An even more unexpected sur­ ago when Hollywood However, Hollywood is still the The feature film, which was prise is that Ne Zha recently over­ imports were the most powerful rival for domestic the debut of director Wen Muye took sci­fi epic The Wandering Earth filmmakers. and starred Xu Zheng, won for to claim the spot for second highest­ most popular, Following Spider­Man: Far from best actor, best new director and grossing film of all time in China’s domestic Home, which grossed 1.41 billion best original screenplay at the box­office charts. This happened yuan, making it the third highest­ 2018 Golden Horse Awards in shortly after it supplanted Disney’s theatergoers now performing summer movie, Fast & Taiwan. Zootopia as the country’s top­per­ have diversifying Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is Veteran attendee of the Asian forming animated release to date at now the fifth highest­grossing flick Pop­Up Cinema film festival, the beginning of August. tastes and have and Disney’s remake The Lion King Andy Salk, says: “It’s a treat to In addition to its domestic screen­ become more sitting in the seventh place. meet with Asian filmmakers and ing extending to two months (the Japanese Oscar­winning animat­ ask them questions directly at usual theater run rarely extends past discerning.” ed classic Spirited Away, which discussion sessions.” a month), Ne Zha has also made a Rao Shuguang, president of the grossed nearly 490 million yuan, is Boccio says: “Our goal is to foray into eight other countries: Viet­ China Film Critics Association Top: Now foraying into overseas markets, the runaway hit Ne Zha is the only non­Hollywood film in the help our audiences learn to nam, Indonesia, the United States, the top contributor to China’s box­office bonanza this summer. top 10. accept different cultures and be Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Middle and above: Actor Huang Xiaoming stars as a heroic “Summer vacation is one of the inspired by the stories told by Britain and Singapore. Following the phenomenal hit of firefighter in the real event­adapted film The Bravest, which has most lucrative box­office seasons in filmmakers from Asia.” Annie Walker, founder of Well Go Ne Zha, the second­highest­grossing grossed 1.65 billion yuan to be the second highest­grossing film in China. Unlike a few years ago when Seventeen films from China, USA Entertainment, which exclu­ film this summer is actor Huang the summer. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Hollywood imports were the most Japan, South Korea and the Phil­ sively distributes Ne Zha in North Xiaoming’s latest effort, The Bravest, popular, domestic theatergoers now ippines will be shown at the festi­ America, says the movie is perform­ which has earned 1.65 billion yuan, have diversifying tastes and have val, and 15 special guests made ing well and has pulled in more than turning out to be his best performing put all the residents of the city in firefighters” — a rarely­covered sub­ become more discerning,” says Rao. up of actors, actresses and film­ $1.16 million in its opening weekend film in recent years. peril. ject for domestic filmmakers — “This summer has been a good makers will meet with the audi­ with a limited run across 66 Imax Based on the real­life events sur­ Huang, who stars as one of the Huang says the movie reveals the lesson for local filmmakers, giving ences. theaters in the US and Canada. rounding a pipeline explosion in firefighters, says he feels encouraged human side of those firefighting hints about the direction they can Asian Pop­Up Cinema’s season The film’s run will be expanded to Northeast China’s port city of Dalian to see the movie has attracted a sig­ heroes, depicting them not only as shift focus and efforts to,” he adds. nine will run from Tuesday at least 130 screens, with some roll­ in July 2010, the tear­jerking film nificant number of theatergoers. heroes who always rush into the through Oct 10. ing out in 2D format on Friday, she concerns a group of elite firefighters Noting that The Bravest “is the most dangerous situations when a Contact the writer at adds. who battle a massive inferno that has first film of its kind that focuses on disaster takes place, but also as ordi­ [email protected] XINHUA Commercial alley promoting cultural heritage opens in Beijing

By CHEN NAN to become a popular haunt for tour­ those old skills and artworks a [email protected] ists as well as people living in the broader audience,” Yi says. “Since capital, just like Panjiayuan Antique most people who come to our mar­ A commercial alley to promote Market, a landmark for collectors kets are of the younger generation, intangible cultural heritage and eth­ and traders, and Nanluoguxiang, a the products can hopefully get pro­ nic artworks was inaugurated at the busy south­north commercial street moted on social media.” 22 International Art Plaza in down­ hidden among the hutong. One of the artists is Yang Hui, 32, town Beijing on Saturday. According to Wei Qing, co­initia­ who specializes in ta pian, or rub­ The 1,000­meter­long alley, locat­ tor of the commercial alley, the goal bings. She learned the technique ed near Beijing’s central business is about trying to integrate intangi­ from her father when she was a district, gathered around 40 booths ble cultural heritage artworks into Left and above: Gathering teenager. In 2010, she opened her featuring works of ethnic artists people’s daily lives. intangible cultural heritage and own shop focusing on creative prod­ from across the country for its “We will launch live performan­ ethnic artworks, Hong Yun ucts related to ta pian. opening day. ces, exhibitions and workshops Fang, a commercial alley in With the products, such as tradi­ Clad in traditional dress and that actually make that art and cul­ Beijing, is designed to become a tional Chinese fans in various headgear, ethnic Mongolian singer ture more accessible to people,” Wei popular haunt for tourists as shapes and sizes, she displayed her Morigen, who was born and raised says. well as local residents. techniques in her booth at the open­ in the Inner Mongolia autonomous The 22 International Art Plaza, PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY ing event. region’s Alxa League, performed which is home to art pieces from the “I loved going to museums when I folk songs featuring Urtin Duu, or nearby Today Art Museum, one of was a child. The items from ancient long song — an ancient form of the few private art museums in Bei­ The new commercial alley will contemporary society,” says Yi Li, national and provincial intangible times displayed in the museums folk­singing — as she opened the jing, as well as several coffee shops reach people who “may not normal­ founder of Mammoth­Market, a cultural heritage since September, made me wonder about their sto­ event. and restaurants, has become a pop­ ly have access to intangible cultural partner company in the alley. The bringing their works to bigger cities ries,” she recalls. “What I do now is Open on weekends, the alley, ular location among young city heritage artworks or think about company has collaborated with over in China. simply translate something from named Hong Yun Fang, is designed dwellers. those cultural elements within our 30 artists listed as successors of “This kind of market will give the past to the present.”