China Film Archive
The China Film Archive is a Chinese film archive located in Beijing that is owned and operated by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. It was founded to preserve existing Chinese films and restore 'lost' films. In recent years it has collaborated with international film bodies to assist in film preservation and has organised numerous events, most notably the Beijing International Film Festival.
Aim
The intention of the Archive upon its foundation was for preserving Chinese films and screening them in rural areas. In 2012, approximately 2,400 Chinese-produced films between 1905 and 1976 were stored in the archive. Over time, the Archive has extended its services towards digitally restoring both Chinese and international films. In addition, the Archive undertakes research projects directed at finding 'lost' films and abandoned filmmaking practises.Organisation
History
Early establishment (1958–1979)
The Archive was founded in 1958 by the Chinese Communist Party. Prior to the foundation of the Archive, the China Film Management Corporation – which was founded in 1951 – served to oversee the national distribution of Chinese films. This body was renamed in 1958 to the China Film Distribution and Exhibition Corporation. The Archive was restricted during the Cultural Revolution as Chinese films became of national interest. In 1971 the Archive and the China Film Distribution and Exhibition Corporation merged to establish the China Film Corporation. The role of this entity was to acquire all Chinese-made films and convert them into film prints which could be distributed in mainland China. The group dissolved several years later, and the Archive became its own organisation, however the name – China Film Corporation – is still in use.Later developments (1980–present)
By 1980, under the leadership of Wang Hui, the Archive had acquired 10,000 film titles, in which 30% of these were nitrate copies. In 1984, the Archive partnered with the Cinema Research Office of the Institute of Art Research, to establish the China Film Art Research Centre. The CFARC currently participates in research and restoration projects, as a division of the Archive. During the 1980s the Archive organised several, week-long screenings of Chinese films in which Chinese scholars and critics also become involved in the Archive through delivering papers. During this time the Archive held notable pre-release screenings of films such as Transmigration in December 1988, an event attended by Beijing Film Critics Li Tuo and Zheng Dongtian.Under the leadership of Chen Jingliang from 1988 to 2006, The CFARC expanded and by 1999 the CFARC expanded its vault to store 25,000 Chinese and foreign films and had 15,000 books, magazines and other written materials in their archive. In 2005, in celebration of the Archive's centenary anniversary, a new building was opened.
As of 2020, the Archive was led by Sun Xianghui, who was also a guest professor at the MACAU University of Science and Technology. The Archive continues with film restoration efforts and has hosted numerous national conferences discussing subsections of film genres. In addition, the Archive assisted in regulating imported and exported films to and from China. The Archive currently holds historical artefacts – besides film prints – including photographs and documentaries of notable events. The Beijing Archive is separated into two sections, with one specifically for film and another section for written materials including scripts.
In 2012 the archive began to screen silent, Chinese animated films with an arranged, musical accompaniment. This is notable as the practise of screening silent with live music was not common.
In 2018, the journal Contemporary Animation was launched by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and the China Film Art Research Center. The journal is published on a quarterly basis and is notable as the only academic journal in mainland China to focus specifically on film animation. Each issue is separated into subtopics including new research, observation, education and new 'theory hotspots'.
Current operations
Funding
Currently the archive is expanded across two separate locations: with one archive located in Beijing and another in Xi'an, Shaanxi. The archive is state owned and operated, with the Chinese Communist Party granting the archive 35 million yuan annually for restoration projects and sponsoring a program which screens films in rural, Chinese communities. The Archive's director, Sun Xianghui, referred to this program in an interview in EasternKicks as '1 month, 1 village, 1 film', which operates by a single employee travelling with a digital projector to set up large, outdoor screenings of recently restored Chinese films. This program has expanded to screen multiple films per month and now the films shown are tailored towards the 'needs' of each rural area.Education
The Archive offers post-graduate courses to Chinese students only. These courses include a three-year master's degree which is limited to 20 students per year and heavily focuses on Chinese film history. In addition, in a 2014 interview with Sun Xianghui, he explained that the archive had undertaken a project towards publishing a film 'oral history' series, featuring interviews with Chinese directors and other film personnel. Since the project's institution in 2008, four out of thirty volumes have been published.Film distribution
The Measures for Control over Imported Films Regulations – which was introduced in October 1981 – mandates that all international feature films must be approved by the Ministry of Culture before they can be handed over to film distributors including the Archive. In relation to the screening of films produced outside of mainland China, 34 international films are permitted for public screening each year. These films are distributed by either China Film Group or Huaxia Film Distribution, for a flat-fee payment. However, the Archive does not fall under this quota as the Archive pays for the copyright to screen these films, not to commercially distribute them.Since 2016, the Archive has expanded its number of art-house cinema complexes. In collaboration with Huaxia Film Distribution and Wanda Cinema Line among other films bodies, the Archive launched the China National Arthouse Film Alliance. This film body was designed to approve national and international art-house films for distribution in mainland China. As of 2017, over 300 new screens had been built per year in 31 of China's provinces and regions. Xianghui, stated that these films would be curated thematically and would rotate on an annual schedule, integrating these with other commercial films. This project is financially arranged through a flat-fee payment and an additional revenue payment. After passing through censorship tests, which including banning themes of LGBT, politics and nudity, the films bought would be publicly shown by Chinese distributors, who would also be responsible for their marketing.
''China Film News''
The China Film Archive also publishes a film newspaper, China Film News, with operations overseen by the China Film Administration and it is currently the only film newspaper with secondary legal entity status in the country. China Film News covers news within the film industry and features columns for film reviews while also providing coverage on business, technology, rural news, social commentary, and international news. In addition, it collaborates with the American film magazine The Hollywood Reporter and the British film magazine Screen International to report on international film news. Originally established by the China Film Association on 15 January 1985, the newspaper was temporarily suspended in December 1989 after publishing 160 volumes. It resumed publication under the name China Film Weekly after being taken over by the China Film Archive in 1990, later reverting to its original name China Film News in 1997. In 2019, China Film News announced that the China Film Administration would bar Chinese films and filmmakers from participating in the Golden Horse Awards due to political controversies. Starting in 2021, China Film News became one of the co-organizers promoting "Four History" education in schools within the context of new media.Preservation and notable events
National preservation and events
Preservation and presentation of Chinese films
One notable recent restoration project was that of the Chinese silent-era film The Goddess. As part of the archive's Digital Restoration Project – which launched in 2005 – The Goddess is one film that was digitally restored in both sound and visual quality, for re-distribution and screenings. The project was completed in 2014 and was screened at the 58th BFI London Film Festival alongside a new orchestral score for the film composed by Zou Ye.'Restored Treasures' Series
The Archive works closely with other film archives, particularly the Chinese Taipei Film Archive and the Hong Kong Film Archive. Between February and April 2014, the Hong Kong Film Archive screened four films that had recently been restored by the China Film Archive, as part of a 'Restored Treasures' series. The four films presented included the silent, short film Laborer's Love, the silent film Red Heroine, and the black and white films, Spring in a Small Town, and Captain Guan. Film critics were also invited to speak to the audience on their opinions of the film and two of the films shown featured a live music accompaniment by Kung Chi-shing and Shame Aspergren.The 'Restored Treasures' series also included the screening of Chinese animated films. The first series, 'Restored Treasures: The Enigma of Chinese Animations ' premiered in May 2014, and screened the films; The Mouse and the Frog, Princess Iron-Fan '', The Kite and Dreaming to Be Emperor. The second series titled, 'The Enigma of Chinese Animation ' premiered on June 1, 2014. The programme featured films including The Proud General, Pigsy Eats Watermelon , Where Is Mamma? and The Cowherd's Flute. The final series, 'The Engima of Chinese Animation ' premiered a month later on July 6, 2014. The film lineup included Three Monks and The Deer Fairy''. These screenings also included a talk by animators Neco Lo, Keeto Lam and Yu Man-fai. Table 1 is a summary of all of the animated films shown during the series.