Most of Chinas larger film studios are sending junior sales and/or acquisition execs to Cannes to explore international business.
But the big bosses are more preoccupied with rebuilding their industry back at home.
That has made investment unstable for both independent and mainstream films.
China Flag, Cannes Film FestivalGetty
However, both films have European funding and are not claiming Chinese nationality.
Some of them will be back in Cannes this year, but their numbers are greatly reduced.
The first four months of this year have also been sluggish.
Only The River FlowsLian Ray Pictures
Chinas film censorship process also slowed down significantly during the pandemic.
Chinese distributors who acquire independent foreign films (i.e.
Some never went away and have been conducting business online for the past three years.
Distributors are looking for films and weve noticed more titles are getting released in China.
But to be clear, theyre looking for commercial, big box office movies.
Its certainly true that cinemas need more product.
But Chinas economy grew by only 3% in 2022 and theres now a push to re-stimulate growth.
VOD platforms are also more cautious and dont want to pay much for content.
Recent releases includeThe Super Mario Bros Movie,The Woman KingandGuardians Of The Galaxy Vol.
Since March, the China Film Bureau has also speeded up clearances for foreign independent titles.
But its still early days and so far only Japanese animation titles seem to be working.
3, which opened on May 5.
She says this is partly a cultural shift.
Its just going to take a few big titles to catch on in terms of bringing audiences back.
