The World, by director Jia Zhangke, captured the prizes
for Best Feature Film and Best Cinematography at the Sixth Las
Palmas International Film Festival, which ended in Spain on March
12.
Jia Zhangke said he was inspired to make The World,
which depicts the similarities between peoples and countries, by
his increasingly strong belief that cultural gaps are
exaggerated.
Like many other "sixth-generation" and independent Chinese
filmmakers, in the past Jia put most of his efforts into shooting
art films and hoping for awards at various international film
festivals.
He did a turnaround in making The World, giving
priority this time to the domestic audience. He even spent three
months conducting distribution research for the film and collected
suggestions from filmgoers throughout the country.
"Starting with The World, my films will become more
commercial. Some old films like Red Sorghum (1987) and
Old Well (1986) were well received in the market. The
older generation did it, why can't we?" said Jia.
The World also brought the Best Cinematography prize to
Niu Yixun, who may be best known for his work on Wong Kar-wai's hit
In the Mood for Love. Niu said that this work, in the
style Jia normal follows for his feature films, tells the same
story from a variety of angles.
The film will debut in April in China, South Korea, France and
elsewhere.
"Screening the film simultaneously around the world means a lot
both to me and to China's film industry," Jia said.
In addition,?The?World won the prize
for?Best Screenplay at the?7th Festival du Film Asiatiq
ue de Deauville, which was?concluded in France today.
(China.org.cn, CRI March 15, 2005)
