Art & soul

Renowned Hong Kong director John Woo once famously said that in the past China had art house films without an audience, while now it has audiences for art house, though no films. Woo's words accurately summed up China's artistic embarrassment. Commercial films dominate screenings at cinemas, while art house films languish without an audience. However, there is hope the situation is starting to change following director Jia Zhangke's recent announcement he will open an art house theater in Beijing.

Beijing's newest artistic hub

The 2006 Golden Lion Award winner at the Venice International Film Festival described his plan of building a theater "to serve the artistic youth."

"I went to the eastern outskirts of Beijing to see [the theater's] construction site. A 100-seat theater will be built this year," Jia posted on his Sina Weibo microblog, no doubt to the joy of art house fans.

Construction at the unpublicized location of the site will start in September. The theater will also include a café and reading room for film fans.

"I hope this theater will be a place for art discussion. I will also invite film directors to visit and talk about their ideas," said the Shanxi-born director regarded as a leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema. Jia also mentioned he had been discussing the general design of the theater with his friends to incorporate a "high-class style with a free, homelike atmosphere."

Jia revealed that he hadn't set his sights on making money with the theater. His modest hopes appear well-founded, as art house films struggle to secure investment on the same scale as their commercial counterparts, while their fan base is also substantially smaller.

Hong Kong director Ann Hui, whose film A Simple Life recently hit screens at Beijing cinemas, has won the award for Best Director of a Hong Kong Film three times with her previous art house productions.

Nevertheless, it's still a battle for Hui to clinch funding for her movies. Hui's 2008 drama The Way We Are won four awards, even though it only made HK$100,000 at the box office, far below its HK$1 million budget. Jia is under no illusions that sometimes critically acclaimed films flop at the box office.

"As a worst case scenario, I'm prepared for a non-profit period of two to three years," Jia posted on his Weibo from Taiwan.

Hit and miss with fans

Individual art house cinemas often do a profitable business in many Western countries, however in China there is only one success story in the form of Broadway Cinematheque MOMA, located in Dongzhimen. MOMA, China's first art house theater, operates under a creative business model that involves screening both art house and commercial films.

Jia's theater, which is still unnamed, will differ from MOMA in that it will only show art house films. Jia, who has directed more than a dozen films shot on varying budgets since 1994, said the first films screened will all be Chinese.

Hurdles at home

Jia confessed lack of resources, funding and rampant domestic film piracy would be the greatest obstacles to his new cinema. "I hope this will change soon, as a steady source of art house films can hardly rely on the product of a single country. We need international support," he stressed.

Jia, whose directing style is characterized by minimalism and realism, has embraced the responsibility of reenergizing Chinese art house cinema. He previously launched the "Tianyi" ("Added Wings") and "Yulu" ("Word's Way") projects to help young directors producing non-commercial films.