Promotional poster for A Wedding Invitation Photo: CFP

The whole of April has been a real festival for film lovers. This fever will extend into May as the ongoing Beijing College Student Film Festival (BCSFF) will continue to hold many different events throughout the month. 

Beginning in April, the BCSFF has screened a number of Korean films over the past few weeks. At this same time, just this past weekend, the China Film Association also organized several lectures inviting famous Korean filmmakers to share their experiences.

Only able to jealously look on as Chinese audiences go crazy for South Korean idols on TV, Chinese filmmakers and academics are attempting to learn the secret to their neighbor's success. 

An inspirational model

Last year, 207 South Korean films and 846 foreign films earned over $1 billion at the South Korean box office. Although the number of South Korean films were not even a quarter of the number of foreign films, local productions accounted for 60 percent of the total market share last year. Meanwhile, only one of the top 10 box office successes was from Hollywood, according to data from the Korean Film Council.

"South Korean culture has been expanding on all fronts," said Zhou Xing, director of the art and media department at Beijing Normal University, during an academic conference held on April 9.

In 2013, Chinese films accounted for half of the domestic film market in China, owing partially to the limited number of Hollywood films allowed each year. Zhou mentioned that South Korean films' ability to command such a large proportion of its domestic market is something that makes Chinese filmmakers green with envy.

"The difference comes down to the quality of films. In terms of creativity, either commercially or artistically, South Korean films have managed to maintain their own special characteristics," said Zhou, pointing out that South Korean films have made huge strides when it comes to adapting Western film technology while also maintaining a distinct local flavor.

Over the past year, many production companies in China have invited Korean film crews to handle special effects and post-production work on films. Back to 1942, After Shock and The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate for instance have all been worked on by South Korean experts.

Lu Haibo, a professor at The Central Academy of Drama, stated that Snowpiercer, which has been released in 167 countries, is the perfect example of a film that is international yet maintaining South Korean features.

"South Korean films cover all sorts of topics and genres. Through these films, the country is able to show the world its aesthetic outlook, interests, national culture and creativity. These are elements that Chinese films looking to win a spot on the world stage should look to for inspiration," said Lu.

Famous Korean producer Lee Jun-dong once said that Korean filmmakers hold an introspective view of the Hong Kong film industry. While action films and police dramas have made numerous Hong Kong actors and actresses international stars in the past, they feel that without revolutionary and controversial independent films, the industry will be unable to survive over the long run.

"'Gangnam Style' received over 1 billion hits on YouTube, while director Kim Ki-duk's award-winning film Pieta only attracted 10,000 people into cinemas in South Korea. We need to produce both these types of cultural products; ones that are loved by the public internationally and ones that are controversial and artistic," Lee remarked.  

International co-production

In June of 2013, the Chinese and South Korean governments signed a contract to promote co-productions between the two countries. Since then, many South Korean directors have had a hand in making Chinese films.

Following South Korean production models, A Wedding Invitation, directed by Oh Ki-hwan, took in 190 million yuan ($30 million) in box-office revenue in China, while horror film Bunshinsaba 2, directed by Ahn Byeong-ki, earned 80 million yuan ($13 million). Both films were Chinese adaptations of existing South Korean films.

On the other side of things,  the Jin-ho Hur directed Dangerous Liaisons, fully financed in China and following the Chinese system of production, was selected as the worst film of the year by the 2012 Douban Awards, a public online poll on entertainment media review site douban.com.

This year, the co-production trend continues with On the Way, directed by Kim Poog-ki, and Park Kwang-hyun's The Art of Fist Duel; the latter of which is still in production at the moment.    

Lu thinks that co-production is a way to allow audiences from other regions to get to know Chinese culture.

"Chinese filmmakers want to be accepted internationally, but there are cultural differences that we don't even realize, to include the type of subjects we choose to film. Many would blame a lack of variety in Chinese films on censorship, but the problem is not that simple. It is the result of a creative inertia that has developed over a long time," said Lu.

Yin Chengkui, another professor at Beijing Normal University, said that filmmakers need to keep in mind that audiences in the two countries have different tastes. For example, co-productions that did well in China like A Wedding Invitation and the Kim Tae-Yong film Full Autumn proved unpopular in South Korea.

A long way to go

Korean filmmakers have admired and learned from Japanese directors, China's group of "fifth generation directors" as well as Hollywood in the past. However, it wasn't until 2000 that they finally started to produce a variety of films that possessed a real Korean style.

Peng Tao, a professor at Central China Normal University, pointed out that South Korean directors are not afraid to take discussion about industry issues and related government policies public. By engaging with the public and earning public support they have been able to make beneficial changes to the South Korean film industry.

"In comparison Chinese filmmakers often limit talk about issues within industry circles. Events like Xie Fei criticizing the absence of a rating system last year are rare," said Peng.

Yin feels that the Pusan International Film Festival can also act as a great role model for China. Specifically targeting independent filmmakers, the influence of the film festival has grown to be on par with the older Tokyo International Film Festival.

"They did this in a very clever way. They didn't just outright say the festival was supporting independent films,  rather they simply expanded the genres and subjects of the films they select," said Yin.

 "There is no single rule that works for all countries, but there are always things we can reference and learn. It's never wrong to look forward and believe in the future," Zhou said.