A scene from Red Amnesia Photo: CFP

Sixth generation director Wang Xiaoshuai's latest film, Red Amnesia, hit cinemas last Thursday. Despite being well received by film critics and those within the film industry, the film's relatively poor financial performance - attributed to the film's release on only 1.32 percent of the country's 23,600-plus movie screens - generated quite a bit of buzz online. Filmmakers like Wang urged for increased market fairness for art films while others argued that since the market apparently has a preference towards popcorn movies it is better to just allow the invisible hand of capitalism to handle the issue.

Escape from reality

Going into a random cinema in Beijing this week, there are only two times to choose from if you want to see Red Amnesia. In second or third tier cities, it is even more difficult to find a cinema showing Red Amnesia. 

According to box office analysis site piaofang.maoyan.com, the number of screenings for the film has hovered around 2 percent nationally. The 1.32 percent of screens came as a complete surprised to Wang, who had planned for an 8-10 percent showing.

"It was the darkest day in my filmmaking career," Wang said in an interview with sina.com, describing the feeling when he saw the number of screens premiering the film. "This is the best time for commercial movies but the worst for any serious films… This is murder," he said. On that particular sad day, he also posted a message on his Sina Weibo asking for support from audiences.

Marketing has become a major force in the Chinese film industry and spending a huge amount of money on promoting films has become an inevitable expense for both commercial and art house filmmakers. However, Wang has said he was particularly frustrated by the lack of cooperation on the behalf of cinemas after his studio invested a considerable amount of time and money in getting audiences into cinemas. Many moviegoers excited to see the film couldn't find a suitable available time slot or found tickets for the only showing at the cinema had been sold out.

Selected for competition at the 71st Venice International Film Festival and critically acclaimed at home, Red Amnesia is one of the best domestic films to be released in the first half of the year, but for moviegoers looking for excitement and fun, they may find themselves disappointed. This probably explains why people have reported that when buying tickets for the film, cinema employees would remind them several times that they were about to see an art film.

According to Wang, while movies can be a huge source of entertainment they should also play a parallel role of taking a critical look at human nature, society and history. In an interview with Yang Cheng, the deputy general manager of Laurel Films, Wang said China entered an era where the public has been brainwashed over and over again to think of films as just entertainment. Yet after two hours of relaxation people end up going back to reality only to discover that the pressure and pain in their lives are still there and no one is willing to talk about these issues.

"If we could have a little bit more reality and distribute films about real issues, audiences would be stimulated to think about them which may lead to actual changes. It's at least far better than being numb to these issues," said Wang.

A question of money 

The discussion concerning the sharp contrast between many art film's low box office performances and their positive reviews has been around for a while. Wang Xiaoshuai isn't the first to encounter such a problem. Directors such as Jia Zhangke and Lou Ye have also made films that were well received in Europe but barely managed to find a place at home.

Art films and films that target a niche market have had a difficult time surviving in the Chinese market. Even winning a prize at an international film festival doesn't seem to help much in bringing in high box office returns. As such, the question whether to establish theaters specifically for art house films as well as develop a system of government support have become regular topics of discussion.

However, last year, the fact that Diao Yinan's award winning film Black Coal, Thin Ice earned over 100 million yuan ($16 million) at the box-office has bought hope to art house filmmakers.

For Wang, Black Coal, Thin Ice's performance means that serious films can also find a model to live by. 

"If we study this model and develop it, we could discover a scientific way to find a consistent audience base and to schedule films for this audience instead of just throwing the dice. That would be enough. Other movies can have their billion box office results no problem," said Wang.

Also debuting last week was Sylvia Chang's movie Murmur of the Hearts. On Sunday, Chang posted a note through the film's official Sina Weibo stating that she accepted the film's box office results but doesn't think the film is a failure.

"In my dictionary, success is to do a job well. The meaning of our existence is to treat our jobs with respect," Chang wrote. Murmur of the Hearts has generated 3.5 million yuan at the box office so far, whereas Red Amnesia sits at about 2.6 million yuan.

Arguments online have focused more on whether filmmakers are in the right to place blame on the number of available screens, since this should be purely based on decisions by cinema managers and what is in their best interests. One argument is that since marketing and distribution teams can often convince cinema managers to show films even when they are bad, screenings should be adjusted after a film's first weekend.

For instance, You are My Sunshine, starring Huang Xiaoming and Yang Mi, has been highly panned online. However, by taking more than 30 percent of screens the film was still able to take second place at the box office for domestic films with 200 million yuan even though each screening had less than 20 percent of seats filled. 

The argument seems to be that in a mature market, seating occupancy and mouth-to-mouth marketing should be the determiner behind how many screens a film should be shown on. In other words, actual good films should get the number of screens they deserve after they have proved themselves.