Professor Chen Shan Discusses Chinese Film History

Published: 2015-04-14
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Professor Chen Shan from the Movie Literature Department of the Beijing Film Academy gave a lecture on Chinese film at UCAS on April 7.

Prof. Chen’s lecture gave UCAS students a general idea about Chinese movie history. He talked about the introduction of movies to China, as well as the birth, development, peak, decline and renaissance of Chinese film, as well as achievements and problems of Chinese films in different periods.

Near the end of the lecture, Prof. Chen listed three present situations and problems facing modern Chinese filmmakers. Firstly, traditional films have been fully replaced by digital movies, resulting in complete structural change of films as an art-form. Secondly, dealing with the relationships between culture, communication and commerce is one of the key issues challenging the Chinese motion picture industry. Thirdly, the Chinese film industry has to learn how to adapt to the tide of globalization and how to handle various culture conflicts. As cultural competitiveness will become one of the pillars of national competitiveness in the near future, Prof. Chen said, “China must learn to speak the language of globalization by using their own cultural resources ".

Prof. Chen expressed his sincere hopes for the future of the Chinese film industry, during an active question and answer section.

Written by Guo Lixia