Guangzhou documentary festival calls for entries worldwide

The Guangdong provincial government and State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television co-hosted a press conference in Hong Kong on March 19, to call for entries worldwide to attend the 2018 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival (GZDOC).

The festival is to be held in Guangzhou between Dec 10 and 13 this year. The collection of entries will last from March 15 to August 31. The documentaries submitted from across the world will be shown at various sections during the festival, including the Golden Kapok Award competition, Golden Kapok Screening Program, "Doc Shop" screening, and presale of film proposals.

The GZDOC has become one of the most influential professional documentary expos in the world, ranking first in Asia in terms of the number of entries and participating countries. The 2017 GZDOC received 4,239 entries from 113 countries and regions, facilitating planned documentary transactions with a total value of 519 million yuan ($81.9 million).

To call for entries worldwide, the 2018 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival holds a press conference in Hong Kong on March 19. [Photo/ycwb.com]

According to He Suliu, a professor at the Communication University of China and director of the China Documentary Research Center, China's consumption on documentaries has taken shape. The consumer demand for documentaries has amassed to a certain scale and keeps growing. Some documentaries usually made with a small audience in mind, surprisingly became trendy among young people. Chinese documentaries are facing unprecedented indefinite possibilities.

China produced a total of 44 documentary films in 2017, up 37.5 percent from 2016. He predicts that watching documentaries in cinemas will become a new norm in China.

According to statistics from iQiyi, one of the largest online video sites in China, the total time spent by Guangzhou audiences watching documentaries over the past two years has overtaken Beijing and Shanghai, ranking first among all Chinese cities. The city of Guangzhou has always been an important contributor to the national film box office. Documentary films are no exception, with some sensational ones raking in considerable box office revenue in the southern Chinese city last year.

"Guangzhou residents have the best understanding of documentaries. That is why the city has become a ticket bunker for documentaries in China," said Ren Tianhua, vice-director of GZDOC organizing committee, "The festival has been held in Guangzhou for 15 years, serving as an excellent platform to promote the development of the documentary industry. In the future, Guangzhou will become a top destination for documentary fans nationwide or even worldwide."