Shanghai Int'l Film Festival: Animators discuss cross-cultural film cooperation

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Entertainment executives say animation will be the best movie platform for cross-border cooperation between Chinese and overseas film producers. Industry professionals discussed how to make this happen at a forum at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Xu Mengqi reports.

A Chinese story, directed and written by the French.

It's just one example of cross-cultural cooperation in animated feature films, which has gradually become more commonplace.

IGOR STORCHAK UKRAINIAN FILM DISTRIBUTOR & PRODUCER "The world is changing, further blurring cultural and entertainment borderlines. In this case, animation will become more international as well."

During this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, Chinese and overseas feature animation producers gathered to discuss how to better co-produce animations that will have cross-cultural appeal.

XU MENGQI SHANGHAI "The fast development of China's film industry has generated a lot of interest in co-financing and co-producing movies among Chinese and foreign filmmakers. Animated feature films are believed to have a natural advantage over other movie genres, mainly because animators can easily re-voice their works in different languages."

A great example: the third and latest installment of the Kung Fu Panda Franchise, which was co-produced by China and the US.

The movie's scenes are all set in China. Yet every other detail, from traditional Chinese music elements to, in particular, the dubbing, all provided audiences with a local and original experience.

But not all co-productions will be as successful as the Hollywood ones.

JACQUES-REMY GIRERD FRENCH ANIMATOR "It's not always an easy task to tell the story in a way that will resonate with a global audience. When we crack the code of storytelling and cinematic language to tell a universal story, co-production can go smoothly."

And the key to telling a universal story?

Some animators believe it still lies in the hands of the director.

ZHOU SHENGWEI CHINESE ANIMATOR "When you rack your brains to please the audience or copy the Hollywood model to tell a so-called good story, it won't necessarily touch others. For stories to work cross-culturally, I think they should come from the heart. I think the emotional touch is the way to go."

SUNAO KATABUCHI JAPANESE ANIMATOR "If we over-emphasize globalization and get all focused on how to grip the foreign audience, I don't think it will be good practice."

So be it a big-budget Hollywood production, or a small art-house tale, to reach audiences across the world, experts say it has to be a good story first. XMQ, CGTN, Shanghai.