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China's Hainan may become the eastern analogue of Hollywood

Fu Xuanguo, Deputy head of the propaganda department of the provincial party Committee and General Secretary of the Hainan international film festival organizing Committee Luo Yunfei/ChinaNews
Fu Xuanguo, Deputy head of the propaganda department of the provincial party Committee and General Secretary of the Hainan international film festival organizing Committee
© Luo Yunfei/ChinaNews

HAIKOU, December 9. /TASS/. The Hainan administration plans to actively develop cinematography and in the foreseeable future turn the island into an eastern analogue of American Hollywood, stated Fu Xuanguo, deputy head of the propaganda department of the provincial party committee, general secretary of the organizing committee of the Hainan International Film Festival.

“We will take active steps to ensure that this event is an important boost for the development of Hainan Free Trade Port's culture, a key platform for promoting international exchanges,” he said at the Film Industry Forum during the annual festival in Hainan for the third time. there is Hollywood, in India there is Bollywood, so why don't we create our own analogue - Highlywood?

Cinematographers from China, Russia, Australia, Belarus, US, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka were invited to participate in the discussions that took place at the conference. They discussed the prospects for building global partnerships for the production of quality and engaging films.

Fu Xuanguo recalled that the island has excellent ecology and a wonderful climate, as well as many picturesque sea, forest and mountain landscapes, which make it possible to organize the filming in various genres. "Quite a lot of films were filmed on Hainan this year," the official said.

According to the deputy head of the propaganda department, the local film industry primarily needs "first-class investment, perfect standardization and professionalization." Thanks to them, he believes, the island will have a reliable basis for the mass production of popular films. Fu Xuanguo noted that over the past three years, the Hainan authorities have done a lot in this regard, having achieved noticeable success.

Hainan Film Festival

The third Hainan International Film Festival takes place in the resort town of Sanya on December 5-12. During the week, 189 films from 60 countries will be screened, the Chinese viewers will see 97 of those for the first time. This year, the shows were organized in several parts of the province. The audience can view some of the films online: it is expected that this format will significantly expand the reach. 

This time, the organizers have considered applications from the creators of more than 4,300 films. The figure turned out to be twice as high as in 2019. The best of these motion pictures will compete for prizes in various nominations, including the most prestigious award — the Golden Coconut.

The Hainan Island International Film Festival is recognized as one of the four major film screenings in China. It was first held in December 2018 and has been held regularly in Sanya since then. It was attended by such world famous actors and directors as Jackie Chan, Aamir Khan, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and others.

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