STORY: Chinese-American actor sees great opportunity for Chinese cinema
DATELINE: Sept. 7, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:19
LOCATION: VENICE, Italy
CATEGORY: CULTURE/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Chinese-American singer and actor Kris Phillips showing up on behalf of the Chinese mythological epic trilogy "Creation of the Gods" at the ongoing 80th Venice International Film Festival
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): KRIS PHILLIPS, Chinese-American singer and actor
3. various of the event and the Chinese movie "Creation of the Gods"
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): KRIS PHILLIPS, Chinese-American singer and actor

STORYLINE:

There is a great opportunity for Chinese filmmakers to present unique and fresh stories to audiences worldwide as people crave new ideas and directions in films.

This is according to Chinese-American singer and actor Kris Phillips in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Venice, Italy.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): KRIS PHILLIPS, Chinese-American singer and actor
"Right now there's a great opportunity for Chinese cinema because I think there's a great hunger for new ideas, new directions in film, new things that we haven't seen before, especially in recent years. I think that Hollywood, which has dominated the entire world's film industry for decades, they seem to be doing a lot of remakes of the same films over and over. They're having a difficulty trying to find new stories, new directions. The subjects of Chinese literature, it has so many stories, so many characters. And also I think even contemporary subjects about Chinese citizens' lives, modern stories, they're gonna be something that the world audience they have not seen yet. So I think that this is a great, great opportunity right now."

At the ongoing 80th Venice International Film Festival, Phillips showed up on behalf of the Chinese mythological epic trilogy "Creation of the Gods," the first segment of which is screening in China this summer.

Phillips starred as King Zhou, the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty in it.

The film has already become a blockbuster and garnered more than 2.5 billion yuan (342.28 million U.S. dollars) at the box office.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): KRIS PHILLIPS, Chinese-American singer and actor
"I think it's going to be easier for a film like 'Creation of the Gods' to be presented to the world audiences because it still has a fantasy epic background, even though it's based in real history, but it's epic scale. It's the kind of story that like 'Lord of the Rings,' like 'Game of Thrones' that people all over the world can enjoy. They can easily take in. I think that contemporary stories of modern-day Chinese citizens are going to be a bit more challenging for worldwide audiences because they're going to have to make an effort to understand what life is like. But if those common themes are well displayed, themes of family, themes of love, themes of responsibility, of fear, (of) what are the things that make us human, I think those things are common for all audiences around the world, and if those themes are portrayed well, even in a contemporary drama, you can have a huge success. I do think that there are a lot of opportunities for Chinese film now, because Chinese stories are fresh. It's still like a huge, unexplored, vast territory that is just waiting for filmmakers to go and dig out those great, great stories. So I'm very much optimistic about this moment in Chinese cinema. I think it's a rare opportunity."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Venice, Italy.
(XHTV)