Wang Quan'an on selling out and success
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He said that his film is not driven by money, but by the art of filmmaking itself. Wang added that going commercial is also the beginning of a vicious cycle.
"No matter how much money we make, we still feel unsafe and we still want to make more," he said, adding that many Chinese have a unitary sense of value, from political priority in the past to the current focus on economic development and profit earning, the result – a Chinese film market flooded with unoriginal costume action blockbusters with little room for anything else.
"In a fully developed and mature film market, there should be enough room for both commercial and art house films, like two separate traffic lanes," Wang said. "But here in China, only one single lane is allowed. One dominating film – there is no time slot or screen saved for other films, especially art house films." He urged the market to adopt a fairer and more complete set of rules.
Wang said that if mainstream commercial films are the limbs of the film industry, art house films are the brains, providing new methods and creative ideas for industry development.
"We have to create something of our own, not only copy the successful commercial mode of Hollywood," he commented.
As one of China's Sixth Generation directors, Wang said that some of his peers have been discouraged by the local film industry and film censorship and moved their career focus to Western markets and international film festivals.
"Every director wants to express themselves through film, but here such channels might be sealed, so they have to look elsewhere." He said that tolerance is the foundation of building a country's creativity and China should learn to accept more varied and fresh thoughts and creations.
Despite the obstacles and finding success by winning the Golden Bear at the Berlin festival in 2007 with "Tuya's Marriage," Wang said that he has not given up on the Chinese market yet.
"It is not the environment or the censorship that cannot keep up, but filmmakers themselves that are left behind."
"Apart Together" is part of the Berlinale Goes Kiez, Culinary Cinema and competition sections of the Berlin festival.
