China is open to international co-productions

China's cinemas and borders are open, and more films are being released. However, producers and investors are playing it safe with a limited range of movies said panelists at Bridging The Dragon’s annual Cannes Marche panel.

Chinese director-producer Lu Chuan said: "We have lots of talented and brave young filmmakers who want to make films – the problem is how do we encourage them to make more different types of films, and not only focus on comedies and family dramas."

Jeffrey Chan, CEO of Just Creative Studios said that despite recent hurdles, he was generally positive about the future of Chinese filmmaking.

"We don’t know when we’re trying something new today if the audience will like it. That has made investors and filmmakers much more conservative, but we need to start looking at what other things the audience might like," Chan added.

Liu Hui, co-founder of independent production house Bad Rabbit Pictures said he hoped Chinese directors and producers would start making an effort to reach out to international markets, now that it’s possible to travel and investment is coming back. 

“It would be great to see more young Chinese filmmakers showing up in these international financing sessions and labs,” said Liu. “We also hope that more international filmmakers will come to China so we can make movies together.”

While some US and European companies are still exploring co-productions with China, it is less than five years ago said Chan. He also cited the status of a country's relationship with China as an impact on the ability to co-produce.

"Any co-production that is trying to work in both territories, and multiple territories, is becoming harder creatively,” said Chan.

Some of the difficulties have included restrictions on the flow of money across borders, and of course censorship, which impacts creative elements.

Lu added: "The market is changing, so there will be new realities, but we have a huge population that wants to watch different kinds of films, so there will always be opportunities in my opinion."