How does China strike a balance between native films and foreign films? – part 1

The Shanghai International Film Festival may have played only a minor role in the blockbuster success of “Transformers: Age of Extinction” in China last year. The film, which earned what was then a record $319 million after debuting as the closing film at the festival, was already guaranteed a certain degree of success, given the history of its franchise in China. But its opening here raised the international profile of a festival that has established itself as one of the most prominent events of its kind in the region.

上海——对于《变形金刚4：绝迹重生》(Transformers: Age of Extinction)去年在中国取得的巨大成功，上海国际电影节也许只起到了很小的作用。作为闭幕影片在上海电影节首映后，《变形金刚4：绝迹重生》收获了创纪录的19.7亿元人民币的票房收入。鉴于这一系列电影在中国过去的表现，它本就基本注定会取得成功。不过，上海国际电影节在逐渐成为亚洲地区最重要的电影盛事之一，而《变形金刚4：绝迹重生》在此首映提升了电影节的国际影响力。

This year, organizers are opting for a lower-profile film to fill the symbolic slot.

今年，主办方打算用一部较为低调的影片来承担这一象征性的荣誉。

The event, which kicked off on Saturday and runs through Sunday, opens and closes with two homegrown productions: The Chinese film “I Am Somebody,” a self-financed comedy directed by Derek Yee about the lives of the nameless extras working at the famous Hengdian World Studios near Shanghai, will make its world premiere as the opening film of the festival. The event will close with a Chinese-Russian co-production set during World War II called “Ballet in the Flames of War” and directed by Yachun Dong and Nikita Mikhalkov. The selection of the closing film follows an agreement signed last September between Russia and China intended to increase cooperation in the film domain.

上海国际电影节于上周六拉开帷幕，将持续至本周日，开幕和闭幕影片均为本土出品：华语电影《我是路人甲》将作为开幕影片完成全球首映，闭幕影片则是中俄合拍片《战火中的芭蕾》。《我是路人甲》由尔冬升(Derek Yee)执导，是一部自筹资金拍摄的喜剧片，讲述籍籍无名的临时演员在离上海不远的著名影视城横店的生活。《战火中的芭蕾》则以二战为背景，由董亚春和尼 基塔·米哈尔科夫(Nikita Mikhalkov)共同执导。闭幕影片的选择源于去年9月中俄两国签署的一项意在加强双方在电影方面的合作的协议。

The pivot back toward domestic productions is the latest in an ongoing struggle in China to strike a balance between opening its market to international players and protecting its relatively young film industry. Combined with Hollywood’s eagerness to get a piece of China’s massive film market, which just topped the United States market for the first time in February in terms of box office receipts, the dynamic between the two is often characterized as competitive and collaborative.

中国一直力求在向国际电影开放本国市场和保护中国相对年轻的电影产业之间取得平衡，而此次电影节向本土电影的回归是追求这种平衡的最新举措。今年2月，中国市场的票房收入第一次超越了美国市场，好莱坞迫切希望能在中国巨大的电影市场中分一杯羹。这些因素加起来，使得中外电影之间通常既是竞争关系，也是合作关系。

Officials like Hu Jinjun — the director of the Shanghai Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and TV, the government agency that organizes the festival — prefer to emphasize the latter. “We believe there is no ‘PK’ relationship between the Chinese film industry and Hollywood, instead a process of mutual understanding and exchange,” said Mr. Hu in a written response to questions, using a gaming term that means to engage in combat. “In China, we admire Hollywood’s maturity and advanced film technologies, while Hollywood understands China's vast film market and rich cultural heritage.”

主办上海国际电影节的是政府机关上海市文化广播影视管理局。局长胡劲军等官员更喜欢强调双方的合作。“中国电影和好莱坞之间我认为并不存在‘PK’的关 系，而是一个大家相互了解、认识的过程，”胡局长书面答复采访提问时表示，其中用到了一个意为交锋的游戏术语。“中国电影了解好莱坞的技术、成熟的工业体系，好莱坞了解中国庞大的电影市场和文化底蕴。”

Now in its 18th year, the Shanghai festival attracts stars and top industry players from the region and abroad. Jackie Chan, Fan Bingbing and Mike Tyson were among the celebrities walking the red carpet at the opening ceremony.

上海电影节如今走到了第18个年头，吸引了亚洲内外的明星和业内顶级人士。开幕式上走红毯的明星包括了成龙、范冰冰和迈克·泰森(Mike Tyson)。

The events this year include 1,200 screenings of more than 300 films at 45 locations around Shanghai, China’s cosmopolitan capital.

今年的电影节将在中国的时尚之都上海的45处地点展映300余部影片，场次达1200场。

“Over the years the festival has really upped its game and established itself as a leading film festival in Asia,” said David U. Lee, the chief executive of Leeding Media, a producer and distributor of films in Los Angeles and Beijing and has been attending since 2005.

“上海电影节的确在逐年发展，把自己打造成亚洲地区的一个主要电影节，”李鼎传媒(Leeding Media)首席执行官李威达(David U. Lee)说。他从事电影制作和发行工作，在洛杉矶和北京两地经营，自2005年起一直前来上海参加电影节。

A diverse slate of 14 films has been selected to compete for the Golden Goblet Award, the festival’s highest prize, out of a record 2,096 films from 108 countries submitted for various competitions. In past years, the festival has had difficulty attracting top-quality films. Because it is in the highest category of 15 festivals accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Association, it cannot have films in its main competition that have been in the main competition of another top-category festival, including the big three events at Venice, Cannes and Berlin.

有14部风格各异的影片入围今年的参赛片名单，将角逐电影节的最高殊荣金爵奖。此次有来自108个国家的2096部电影提交给主办方，希望参加不同奖项的角逐，创下了纪录。过去，上海电影节一直面临无法吸引到高质量影片的问题。这是因为上海电影节是国际电影制片人协会(International Federation of Film Producers Association)认可的15个国际A类电影节之一，所以入围其主竞赛单元的影片不能在过去入围其他顶级电影节的主竞赛单元，其中包括威尼斯、戛纳 和柏林三大电影节。

Industry veterans say the competition appears to be improving. Included among the finalists this year are Hollywood titles like Antoine Fuqua’s 2015 film “Southpaw” starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the fictional boxer Billy Hope, and David Barnz’s 2014 indie drama “Cake,” starring Jennifer Aniston as a grieving woman suffering from chronic pain.

电影行业的资深人士表示，上海电影节的竞赛质量看来在提高。今年的最终入围作品包括了来自好莱坞的多部影片，比如安东尼·福奎阿(Antoine Fuqua)在今年推出的《铁拳》(Southpaw)和丹尼尔·巴尔兹(Daniel Barnz)于2014年出品的独立制作《蛋糕》。前者由杰克·吉伦哈尔饰演(Jake Gyllenhaal)虚构拳击手比利·霍普(Billy Hope)，后者则由詹妮弗·安妮斯顿(Jennifer Aniston)主演一名受慢性疼痛折磨的悲伤女子。

Prominent directors featured in the competition include Mr. Mikhalkov with his 2014 film “Sunstroke” set in Crimea during the Red Terror; the French director Pierre Jolivet with the 2015 French-Belgian thriller “The Night Watchman”; and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who won the prize for best director at Cannes this year in the Un Certain Regard section (outside the main competition) with his 2015 romantic drama “Journey to the Shore,” which is now in the main competition at the Shanghai festival.

参与角逐的著名导演包括米哈尔科夫、法国导演皮埃尔·祖利维(Pierre Jolivet)和黑泽清(Kiyoshi Kurosawa)。米哈尔科夫2014年执导的《中暑》(Sunstroke)讲述了红色恐怖时期发生在克里米亚的故事。祖利维带来的是今年推出的法国 和比利时合拍的惊悚片《守夜》(The Night Watchman)。凭借着今年的爱情电影《岸边之旅》(Journey to the Shore)，黑泽清赢得了今年戛纳电影节“一种注目”单元(Un Certain Regard)（主竞赛单元之外）的最佳导演奖。该片入围了本届上海电影节的主竞赛单元。

Other international titles include “Carte Blanche” directed by Jacek Lusinski of Poland; “The Duchess of Warsaw” by Joseph Morder of France; “Jameh Daran” by Hamid Ghotbe of Iran; and the Finnish-Lithuanian film “The Midwife” by Antti Jokinen.

入围的国际电影还包括波兰导演亚采克·卢森斯基(Jacek Lusinski)执导的《女友的秘密》(Carte Blanche)；法国导演约瑟夫·莫德(Joseph Morder)的作品《华沙女公爵》(The Duchess of Warsaw)；伊朗导演哈米德·吉奥特(Hamid Ghotbe)的作品《意外的真相》(Jameh Daran)；以及由安提·乔金恩(Antti Jokinen)执导的芬兰和立陶宛的合拍片《助产士》(The Midwife)。

There are also five Asian films in the main competition. From Korea, the contenders are “Salut d’Amour,” about a middle-age man who receives an unexpected romantic proposal, by Kang Je-kyu, and “The Shameness,” a love story between a policeman and a criminal suspect, by Seung-ook Oh. From China, the competition includes “The Dead End” by Cao Baoping about three brothers who raise a young girl together and “Love in the 1980s” by Huo Jianqi about a village romance. Rounding out the 14 is the Taiwanese-China film “Where the Wind Settles,” directed by the Taiwanese director Wang Tung, about three young Chinese soldiers who escape to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War.

还有五部亚洲影片进入了主竞赛单元。两部来自韩国，其中姜帝圭(Kang Je-kyu)执导的《长寿商会》(Salut d’Amour)讲述的是一名中年男子受到意想不到的感情追求的故事，吴胜旭(Seung-ook Oh)导演的《无赖汉》(Shameness)则描绘了警察与犯罪嫌疑人之间的爱情。入围的中国大陆电影包括曹保平的《烈日灼心》和霍建起的《1980年 代的爱情》。前者讲述了三个兄弟共同抚养一个女孩的故事，后者则以乡村爱情为主题。还有一部是台湾导演王童的作品《对风说爱你》，其中讲述了在中国内战末期逃至台湾的三名年轻士兵的经历。