Promotional material for (clockwise from top) The Hovering Blade, Let Life Be Beautiful, Ping-Pong of China, The Big Band, Saohei and Hachi Photos: Courtesy of iQIYI Pictures

Promotional material for (clockwise from top) The Hovering Blade, Let Life Be Beautiful, Ping-Pong of China, The Big Band, Saohei and Hachi Photos: Courtesy of iQIYI Pictures

Promotional material for (clockwise from top) The Hovering Blade, Let Life Be Beautiful, Ping-Pong of China, The Big Band, Saohei and Hachi Photos: Courtesy of iQIYI Pictures

Promotional material for (clockwise from top) The Hovering Blade, Let Life Be Beautiful, Ping-Pong of China, The Big Band, Saohei and Hachi Photos: Courtesy of iQIYI Pictures

Promotional material for (clockwise from top) The Hovering Blade, Let Life Be Beautiful, Ping-Pong of China, The Big Band, Saohei and Hachi Photos: Courtesy of iQIYI Pictures

 

Promotional material for (clockwise from top) The Hovering Blade, Let Life Be Beautiful, Ping-Pong of China, The Big Band, Saohei and Hachi Photos: Courtesy of iQIYI Pictures

Chinese film studio iQIYI Pictures released its original film project at the Beijing International Film Festival on Thursday. The announced films cover various genres from sports and action to crime thrillers. 

Films based on real events were a major trend. Among the releases are Ping-Pong of China, based on the true story of top Chinese players who go on to win a ping pong championship; a Chinese adaptation of the Japanese film Hachi, which in turn was based on the true story of an Akita dog named Hachiko that continued to wait at a train station for over nine years following its owner's death; and Raid on the Lethal Zone, which focuses on the true stories of Chinese narcotics agents chasing down drug dealers. 

"All 13 upcoming films were carefully selected from hundreds of ideas and stories," Ya Ning, president of iQIYI Pictures, told the Global Times in an email interview. 

Only 343 ideas out of 1,486 applicants were able to reach the initial evaluation section, of which 73 were pitched at a green light meeting. 

According to Ya, high quality is the key factor for a film to do well at the box office and earn a good reputation. He pointed out that 15 of the top 20 domestic films from 2017-19 did not rely only on popular big name stars or were part of successful film series. 

"Original content is very important in the market, especially at a time when China's fast economic and social development offer so much material," he said. 

"These 13 films have been given the chance to be judged by audiences. Telling a good story has become extremely important in the post-COVID 19 era, a time when realistic topics are a new trend for films."

Since Chinese mainland cinemas reopened in late July, the Chinese film market has been on track to return to business as usual. Statistics from Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan show that the Chinese mainland daily box office broke the 500 million yuan ($72.6 million) mark on Tuesday, the day of the traditional Qixi Festival, or Chinese Valentine's Day. 

Other major film studios besides iQIYI Pictures also unveiled their latest film projects at the film festival, indicating an increasing confidence in this recovering industry. Ya said that the entire industry is working together to bring more quality films to cinemas as well as bringing back talents who had been forced out of the film industry due to the epidemic.  


Newspaper headline: Road to recovery