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Hong Kong, Films, and the Building of China’s Soft Power: The Cross-Promotion of Chinese Films on Globally Oriented State Television

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Hong Kong and Bollywood

Part of the book series: Global Cinema ((GLOBALCINE))

Abstract

This chapter analyzes China Central Television’s (CCTV) cultural news reports about the Hong Kong film industry using a grounded theory, discursive and framing analysis approach. The CCTV’s reports about the Hong Kong film industry give the impression that the formerly declining Hong Kong film industry has been revitalized thanks to China’s open policies that permitted Hong Kong directors and artists to sell their films to the massive Mainland market. China is celebrated by CCTV as a driving force behind a growing Chinese film industry that increasingly revolves around commercially successful collaborations between Mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwanese filmmakers. The image is one of a dynamic and flourishing Chinese film industry, which subtly reinforces China’s growing influence in the region and the world.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    CCTV-News was officially launched as a new channel on April 26, 2010. This relaunch was in turn a rebranding of the former CCTV-9, known as CCTV International, which was launched on September 25, 2000 as a 24-hour channel aimed at English-speaking audiences around the world, which currently cover 98 % of the global land mass (Zhu 2012: 172).

  2. 2.

    CCTV Documentary English Channel is the current CCTV-9, which was launched in January 2011 (Pindao jianjie, n.d.; Jirik 2008). CCTV Documentary can be accessed at http://cctvdocumentary.cntv.cn/.

  3. 3.

    Culture Express can be accessed at http://cctv.cntv.cn/lm/cultureexpress/homepage/index.shtml.

  4. 4.

    “Hong Kong 10 Years On” can be accessed at http://english.cntv.cn/program/documentary/docu/special/hongkong_tenyear/index.shtml.

  5. 5.

    By late June 2011, CCTV also had international channels running in Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian, and English.

  6. 6.

    In 2012, the quota for foreign films increased to 34, including the original 20 revenue-sharing films in Chinese theatres and an additional 14 premium format films like 3D and IMAX (Hao 2013: 11).

  7. 7.

    Zhu Ying and Stanley Rosen (2010: 12) note that much of Zhang’s appeal comes from his big-budget epic drama style accompanied by a Hollywood-style marketing campaign.

  8. 8.

    Stanley Rosen (2011) reports on a similar confused response by foreigners to the “China Experience” cultural campaign in New York’s Times Square in January 2011, one day before the visit of Hu Jintao, which involved a 50-meter video billboard displaying China’s most prominent faces.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Lauren Gorfinkel

  2. China Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Xuezhong Su

Authors
  1. Lauren Gorfinkel
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  2. Xuezhong Su
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pace University, New York, New York, USA

    Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

  2. Pace University, New York, New York, USA

    Satish Kolluri

List of Online Sources from China Central Television’s Website

List of Online Sources from China Central Television’s Website

“Best Actress.” May 4, 2009. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20090504/102428.shtml

“CCTV News, Your Link to Asia.” April 26, 2010. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/20100426/104481.shtml

“Chinese Film 2009.” December 31, 2009. CCTV.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cctv.com/20091231/101690.shtml

“Chinese Film Market Enters Busy Season With 40 Films.” December 6, 2012. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 http://english.cntv.cn/20121206/100016.shtml

“Chinese Film ‘Tai Chi 0’ Premiers at Venice Film Festival.” September 2, 2012. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20120902/102036.shtml

“Chinese Movies to Feature 2012 Toronto Int’l Film Festival.” July 25, 2012. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/20120725/107756.shtml

“Donnie Yen, Hong Kong Action Star.” January 19, 2009. CCTV.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://www.cctv.com/english/special/Chinesekungfu/20090119/109495.shtml

“Film Ties Form Culture Bridge.” June 27, 2012. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/program/newshour/20120627/112016.shtml

“Filmmaker Says Chinese like Good Movies Set Anywhere.” July 23, 2013. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on December 2, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/20130723/104109.shtml

“Global Film Industry Eyes Beijing.” April 25, 2012. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20120425/109780.shtml

“Golden Horse: The Ultimate Chinese Film Honor.” November 29, 2011. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20111129/102748.shtml

“Harbin Film Festival Concludes.” January 20, 2011. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20110120/101369.shtml

“HK Director Tsui Hark Honoured with Innovative Director Award in Rome.” November 18, 2013. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on December 2, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20131118/101669.shtml

“HK Film Promotional Tour Sets Off.” July 20, 2009. CCTV.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cctv.com/20090720/101689.shtml

“Hong Kong IFF Announces New Ambassador, Reveals Films.” February 28, 2011. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20110228/105879.shtml

“Hong Kong Int’l Film Festival to Open in March.” February 27, 2009. CCTV.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20090227/107308.shtml

“Hong Kong, Mainland Plan ‘Big Movies’.” April 1, 2009. CRI English.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cri.cn/6666/2009/04/01/1261s470425.htm

“Hong Kong, 10 Years On (7): Relying On the Motherland.” April 5, 2011. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/program/documentary/20110405/103463.shtml

“HK 12 Years: Culture and Education Exchanges.” July 5, 2009. CCTV.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://www.cctv.com/program/worldwidewatch/20090705/101127.shtml

“Kung Fu Master Jackie Chan at Toronto Festival to Promote China’s Film Industry.” September 10, 2012. CCTV.com English. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/20120910/105216.shtml

“The 34th Hong Kong International Film Festival Kicks Off.” March 22, 2010. CCTV.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cctv.com/20100322/102462.shtml

“Top Five Films During Spring Festival.” April 8, 2010. CCTV.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20100308/103145.shtml

“Venice Film Festival Winds Up, ‘Pieta’ Wins Golden Lion.” September 9, 2012. CCTV.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://english.cntv.cn/20120909/100816.shtml

“Vincent Zhao (Chiu Man-Cheuk).” January 20, 2009. CCTV.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2013 from http://www.cctv.com/english/special/Chinesekungfu/20090120/101681.shtml

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Gorfinkel, L., Su, X. (2016). Hong Kong, Films, and the Building of China’s Soft Power: The Cross-Promotion of Chinese Films on Globally Oriented State Television. In: Lee, JH., Kolluri, S. (eds) Hong Kong and Bollywood. Global Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94932-8_15

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