Film practitioners’ perspectives on Australasia-China co-production

Abstract

Film as a medium has become a tool to carry out the mission to serve the purposes of both economic gain and cultural communication in China (China Film Association, 2020). In addition, the “14th Five Year Plan” on China’s film development report highlighted that Chinese films will serve diplomatic outreach, promote co-productions and strengthen the international influence of Chinese cinema while demonstrating Chinese values (China Film Administration, 2021). The academic scholarship on Sino-foreign co-production has focused primarily on the textual analysis of co-produced films and China’s soft power (for example, Peng, 2015). In the existing scholarship, what has not been significantly researched and rarely addressed are the practitioners’ insights and practical experiences in Sino-foreign film co-production. Filling the gaps in this area, this PhD research project examines Sino-foreign co-production in the Australasian region to provide a comprehensive understanding of the practitioners’ perspectives, ideas, experiences, and strategies. Looking briefly at the critical review of related studies, in this presentation, I focus on an in-depth qualitative analysis of interview data with film practitioners and industry personnel who have worked in co-production film projects with China in the Australasian region. I explore and analyse the practitioners’ strategies and negotiations that have taken place in a few examples.