FilMart: Hangzhou Touts Its Leadership in Content Creation
There are numerous cities and provinces with their own regional pavilions at FilMart, but the city that first started the trend was Hangzhou, capital of China’s eastern province of Zhejiang.
One of China’s seven ancient capitals, Hangzhou has in modern times morphed into a tech hub known as China’s Silicon Valley, home to Jack Ma and his Alibaba headquarters. The local government is also doing its best to position the city as a center for film, where it says there are already more than 700 established film companies. This year marks its eighth year participating in Filmart, with about 20 different companies in under its umbrella.
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“The first few years, our booth didn’t do very well. It’s only in recent years that we’ve had a breakthrough,” secretary-general of the Hangzhou Film and TV Assn. Zhu Xu told Variety. Her organization is the executive body for the Hangzhou pavilion, which is set up by the Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Industries Office and the Hangzhou City Cultural Assn. All three are public government entities.
“We were first because the Hangzhou city officials had a bold vision, and because the city attaches a lot of importance to the development of the film and TV industries, so made promotional plans very early on,” Zhu says. She touted the city’s robust private sector, and its art schools and universities — including a film academy in the process of being established — as reason industry players would be attracted to the provincial capital. It also hosts MIP China.
“Our goal is to promote the marketing of works, as well as help Hangzhou film and TV producers develop deeper thoughts about their creative process through overseas distribution and participation in international exhibitions to boost the quality of our city’s film industry,” she added. “Through our promotion of the Hangzhou film, TV and creative industries via the Hangzhou Pavilion, the image of the city has attracted more cooperation partners and talent.”
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