Volume 5, Issue 2

Chinese films in 2024 exhibit diverse narrative paths and rich forms of expression. Comedy films confront social issues with irony and absurdity, while films with realistic themes depict the emotions of the times through individual narratives. Narratives with female perspective explore the possibilities of gender expression from multiple perspectives, while historical themes inject a sense of depth into images through the deep exploration of memory and emotions. Genre films continue the industrialization path and strengthen narrative tension with mature audio-visual language. Literary films strive to expand the intellectual space through boundary exploration. As a cultural practice, Chinese films attempt to open up new narrative boundaries, inject more dimensions of thinking into complex reality, and present profound cultural values.

The year 2024 marks a period of consolidation and transformation for the Chinese film industry. Throughout the year, film authorities at all levels have implemented various measures to promote the prosperity of Chinese cinema and stimulate film consumption. Ongoing efforts have been made to explore regionalized, tiered, and multi-round distribution models, while “differentiated screenings” have enabled more films to precisely reach their target audiences. At the same time, the industry faces challenges such as an insufficient supply of high-quality films, uneven market performance, and a declining number of moviegoers. In the future, we must place greater emphasis on respecting the artistic, industrial, and managerial principles of filmmaking, accelerate the restructuring of the film industry chain, and solidly promote high-quality development. We will strive to convert all positive advantages into tangible outcomes.

Emerging from Xi’an, Shaanxi – a cradle of Chinese civilization – Chinese western films serve as a unique cultural vessel for the Chinese nation. Through their geo-spatial narratives, remediation of cultural memory, and symbolization of national ethos, they actively codify the cinematic semiotics system for Chinese civilizational symbols. Over four decades of evolution, Chinese western films have persistently explored and presented Chinese culture, gradually crystallizing into an artistic methodology that bridges tradition and modernity, the regional and the national. Chinese civilizational symbols in Chinese western films not only directly shape the ideological positioning of the films and converge the semiotic signifiers of cinematic imagery but also constitute distinctive stylistic markers of the genre. Their implementation in cinematic practice facilitates the formation of a unique representation of Chinese film culture. In the cultural journey of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the New Era, the reexploration, presentation, interpretation, and dissemination of Chinese civilizational symbols by Chinese western films have important practical value and far-reaching significance for shaping national cultural identity.

Contemporary Chinese films, which tell mythological stories and presenting audio-visual wonders by means of film and television technology, have been fully recognized by the market. However, the context of storytelling has been too capitalized, resulting in the intervention of capital from the consumer terminal in the production of content, which has led to the secularization of the values of the mythological stories told, and even the tendency of deformed egoism. Chinese films should not only satisfy market consumption but also spread and inherit the cultural consciousness and collective memory of the myths. Therefore, Chinese films should break through the narrative mode and power aesthetics of Western films, construct a two-stage structure with a clear, cyclical and recurrent structure, give full play to its imagination, break through the boundaries of modern rationality, and then shape its own cultural identity, art form, and aesthetic style on a global scale.

This article finds that a subset of animated films produced in mainland China are interpreted as Chinese, diasporic Chinese, and Asian American films. It explores how Sino-US animated co-venture films are produced in mainland China for domestic and international consumption. This builds upon scholarship on Chinese film and Sino-US co-productions in three ways. First, it explores an emerging strategy that uses co-ventures, defined as mainland registered companies that are oftentimes 51 % mainland owned and 49 % foreign owned, to produce animated films. The Sino-US animated films studied in this article include White Snake (2019), Over the Moon (2020), and Wish Dragon (2021). Each film offers a unique approach that is shaped by narrative, aesthetics, and distribution. Second, I explore the tension between the construction of “Chineseness” by Sino-US co-venture animated films and the “Chineseness” theorized in Asian American Studies. Third, a close reading of these films highlights differing representations of “Chineseness” rooted in Chinese and diasporic Chinese identities. I find that China’s fashioning of “Chineseness” for both domestic and international audiences has coincided with an increase in Asian American representation in Hollywood. By examining Sino-US animated co-venture films, this article studies the evolving dynamics of transborder flows in Chinese cinemas and their impact on representation.

In the 1930s, after the emergence of sound films, Chinese films were divided into two production directions: Mandarin films and Cantonese films. As an important distribution market for Chinese films, Nanyang has become a competitive place for these two types of films. During this politically unsettled decade in China, even in Nanyang, far from China’s political center, the competition between Mandarin films and Cantonese films implied the conflicts between local culture and national identity, as well as between mass entertainment and elite discourse. However, under the principle of the supremacy of national interests, Mandarin films and Cantonese films would jointly build, within the framework of “Chinese films,” a nation-state concept far above local identity for overseas Chinese in Nanyang.

This paper examines Tibetan female filmmaker Desta Kyi’s navigation of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festivals to show how emotional and affective labour function as essential strategies for marginalized filmmakers to secure visibility within Han-centric, male-dominated Chinese film industries. Drawing on affect theory and post-authorship frameworks, the study distinguishes macro-level affective labour – the circulation of feeling and “buzz” across festival networks – from micro-level emotional labour – the embodied regulation of affect in interpersonal interactions. Using a semi-autobiographical ethnography (2021–2025) combining interviews, participant observation, and reflexive co-production, the analysis centers on Kyi’s relational work with key supporters (Andy Lau, Jiaran Wang, Dan Wang) and the author’s role as co-producer. Findings demonstrate that visibility, access, and cultural legitimacy are produced not only through artistic output but through sustained, gendered, and often invisible emotional investments that operate as relational capital. The case reveals emotional labour as both vulnerability and strategic agency, reframing festivals as affective infrastructures where power is reproduced and contested. By foregrounding gendered and ethnic dimensions of labour, this paper extends post-authorship debates in the Chinese context and suggests new directions for understanding how marginalized filmmakers assert presence beyond authorship alone.

From the 1950s to the 1980s, dubbed film opened up a unique way for transnational cinema to spread in China through “Iconic Voices.” In the process of adapting the language, voice actors reinterpreted the cultural essence of foreign films for Chinese audiences with their precise grasp of the inner workings of the characters and their deep commitment. In this state of hidden visual images, film fans deeply rely on the voices behind the scenes, and their love and following of these “Iconic Voices” not only become their spiritual support in their daily lives, but also an important part of their cultural nostalgia. I contend that the artistry of dubbed film not only facilitated the dissemination of foreign film culture but also redefined cross-cultural engagement and auditory identity formation by evoking deep emotional connections and inspiring the idolization of voice actors among Chinese audiences.

Ne Zha: The Demon Boy Churns the Sea (Nezha Zhi Motong Naohai, Ne Zha 2, 2025) stands as a benchmark work in Chinese cinema. Centered on universal human values, the film undertakes a heroic deconstruction and mythological re-creation of traditional legend, adapting it to contemporary aesthetic sensibilities. By leveraging digital technologies to empower artistic creation, the filmmakers innovatively transform traditional cultural resources into a distinctive cultural advantage, constructing a fantastic visual language imbued with national aesthetics and expressive of a uniquely Chinese cinematic style. The widespread public discourse and successful cultural export surrounding the film demonstrate that the innovative transformation of traditional national culture is the fundamental driving force behind the sustainable development of Chinese cinema. The film’s success not only powerfully promotes the construction of a culturally strong nation in the new era but also represents a significant practice in fostering a shared cultural destiny for humanity.

The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death centers on the Battle of Cheorwon, a pivotal episode in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950–1953). This battle highlights the strategic wisdom and unwavering courage of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army. Through an innovative “thread-and-ring narrative structure”, the film weaves together multiple standalone stories into a cohesive whole, constructing richly layered character images. Its meticulous attention to detail and nuanced emotional expression endows the film with profound emotional resonance, which in turn pioneers a new direction for the war film genre. It further manifests a strong sense of historical responsibility and cultural confidence, and offers fresh perspectives for the creation of contemporary war films.