how can a documentary film that is critically acclaimed but not commercially successful “break out of the circle”?
2024-09-22
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original title: how can a documentary film that is well-received but not popular break out of the circle?
text/huang an, omnimedia reporter of guangzhou daily
recently, the documentary film "the sinking of the lisbon maru" was released. with its truth-finding, true story, and true feelings, the film has gained super high reputation and high scores on all platforms. it has received a high score of 9.3 from more than 40,000 people on douban, becoming the highest-scoring domestic film so far in 2024. driven by good reputation, "the sinking of the lisbon maru" has begun to attract more attention and gradually achieved a box office counterattack. as of press time, the total box office of the film has reached nearly 20 million yuan.
in fact, in recent years, there have been many documentaries released in theaters, many of which have been highly rated by netizens. however, being well-received but not popular is still a problem faced by most documentaries.
how to make high-quality documentary films seen by more audiences and break out of the market is still an important issue facing documentary makers.
the sinking of the lisbon maru: real, informative, simple and moving
“this is a very restrained film.”
"when a ship sinks to the bottom of the sea, when a person becomes a mystery..." in 2014, the movie "see you tomorrow" directed by han han and produced by fang li was released. this line in the theme song of the same name is very impressive. ten years later, on september 6, 2024, the documentary film "the sinking of the lisbon maru" was released. the "lisbon maru" that sank to the bottom of the sea in "see you tomorrow" was found by fang li, who "works in technology during the day and makes movies at night", and he shot a documentary as a director and producer.
in 2014, when filmmaker fang li was shooting the movie "see you tomorrow" on dongji island in zhejiang province, he was shocked to hear about the "lisbon maru rescue incident" from zhoushan fishermen. his curiosity drove him to look up information. before entering the film industry, he had experience in earth exploration and marine science and technology. he led a professional team to conduct two searches in 2016 and 2017, and finally found the "lisbon maru" on the seabed, which was 36 kilometers away from the recorded coordinates.
after finding the ship, fang li was moved by the story behind it. with the help of history consultant tony banham and others, fang li traveled to many countries to find people related to the ship, to learn about their stories, and to conduct "rescue interviews." the accounts of eyewitnesses and hundreds of families, together with this documentary, have restored a heart-wrenching history that has been submerged for 82 years. after being touched by the stories of joy and sorrow, fang li, who was originally just looking for a ship, decided to bring these stories to the big screen.
"i saw 'people' in the heavy and grand historical events" "it is not deliberately sensational, this is a very restrained film" "i shed a liter of tears in the theater"... after the release of "the sinking of the lisbon maru", the popularity of the film continued to rise, and many viewers praised it as a real, informative, simple and moving film. many netizens have emerged online to recommend it, and many netizens have called for more screenings, making the film's performance break records and predicting box office increases. it has become the domestic box office champion and the domestic documentary audience champion in 2024, and it is also the highest-rated domestic film on douban in 2024.
director fang li: i am both a science and engineering man and a filmmaker
"we have to support this 70-year-old man for his perseverance."
"i bought a movie ticket to support mr. fang li." after the release of "the sinking of the lisbon maru", the story of fang li received a lot of attention online. some viewers said that they would also support the movie for the perseverance of this 70-year-old man.
who is fang li? he graduated from east china institute of geology (now east china university of technology) with a major in applied geophysics. he is a "science and engineering man" who has been engaged in system integration, r&d and manufacturing of earth exploration and ocean survey technology equipment for 40 years.
he is also a filmmaker. before serving as the producer and director of "the sinking of the lisbon maru", he served as the producer, screenwriter, supervisor or producer of many films. the ones that movie fans are more familiar with include "see you tomorrow", "a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix" and "the breakup guru".
he is still known as a man of temperament. in 2016, in order to plead for screening of director wu tianming's posthumous work "a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix", he knelt in front of the audience during a live broadcast, which sparked heated discussions online.
fang li is not only a filmmaker, but also an expert in geophysical exploration and marine technology. it is precisely because of these two identities that he becomes the "chosen person who must do this."
in 2018, fang li took a film crew to the uk for the first time. in order to find more interviewees, he spent a lot of money to publish a full-page missing person advertisement in the local newspaper, and was invited by the bbc to do a global tv broadcast. in the end, he found more than 380 descendants of eyewitnesses, interviewed more than 100 people face to face, and collected tens of thousands of historical photos.
the most valuable part of the film is the interviews with three eyewitnesses who were still alive at the time - two surviving british prisoners of war and a chinese fisherman who participated in the rescue of the "lisbon maru" shipwreck. unfortunately, when the film was released, these three elderly people had passed away.
every family has its own story. during the interview, fang li was often moved by stories full of sadness and longing. after seeing the suicide note written by a soldier who was captured and entrusted the whole family and mother to his 5-year-old brother, fang li, who also has a younger brother, felt the same and fell into deep sorrow. he stopped the interview and rushed out of the room to calm himself down. there was also a british soldier named john, who wrote in a letter to his family that he fell in love with a chinese girl named liang suqin (transliteration). however, before he could realize his happiness in life, john sank forever with the lisbon maru. in the interview of the film, john's family has been looking for ms. liang, and the love of the young couple at that time also moved fang li to tears. after the film was released, the film crew also issued a "notice" to find clues about "liang suqin". after many days of searching, the descendants of the heroine of the story were finally found not long ago, and the reunion spanning 82 years was completed.
fang li once said in an interview that he sold his house to borrow money to make this film, but he had to finish it. he said that it was an emotional force that inspired and supported him to finish the film. "i want to lead the audience into history, into emotions, into family, and let everyone feel how hateful war is and how precious family affection is."
accurate push "deliver good films to the right people"
do documentaries have to be shown in theaters?
compared with commercial feature films, documentaries are still a niche track
as of press time, the total box office of "the sinking of the lisbon maru" has reached nearly 20 million yuan, and the predicted total box office has risen to 29.78 million yuan.
the film's market performance has inspired many documentary filmmakers. "we feel very encouraged," said zhang li, director of the guangdong film association, senior producer and curator, in an interview with the guangzhou daily omnimedia reporter. he had already seen the film at the shanghai international film festival this year, "this is a very good film that captures the depth of the story."
in recent years, many documentary films have been released in theaters. this year's music concert documentary "taylor swift: the time tour" created a new "cinema concert" scene with taylor swift's high popularity, and achieved a box office of 100 million yuan in the mainland market. in addition, natural documentaries have always been the "box office giants" of theater documentaries. the box office of "born in china" in 2016 reached 66.51 million yuan, and the box office of "earth: one amazing day" in 2017 won 47.78 million yuan. the oscar-winning work, "free solo" in 2019 also exceeded 36 million yuan.
however, compared with commercial feature films, documentaries are still a very niche track. most documentary films are destined to be well-received but not popular. zhang li has been deeply involved in the documentary industry for many years. in august this year, the documentary film "the whisperer" of which she served as a co-producer was released in theaters. "the whisperer" is the first documentary film in china focusing on the theme of women's script. it was shortlisted for the 95th academy award for best documentary feature and was nominated for the emmy award for best documentary. however, the box office of the film has not been satisfactory since its release.
zhang li admitted that such results were within expectations. there are different types of documentaries. some are suitable for "family fun" and have higher commodity attributes, which are suitable for theaters; there is also a type of documentary that focuses on the expression of the creators and has a certain threshold for viewing. "the whisperer" belongs to the latter. "we have always had a normal expectation for the box office of this film." in zhang li's view, the main purpose of many viewers going to the cinema is to please their body and mind and relax. some documentaries are relatively serious and not so entertaining. to some extent, documentaries are not the first choice for most viewers to go to the cinema. from a market perspective, it is also necessary to respect the audience's choice.
so, do documentaries have to be shown in theaters? fang li said at the screening at sun yat-sen university that the big screen is the best form of emotional transmission, with light and sound, as well as living people, details that come to mind, body language, expressions, etc. but in zhang li's view, he is not "obsessed" with theaters, "i am obsessed with delivering the work to the right people."
"after the release of the whisperer, many fans initiated preview screenings through the preview platform, allowing more viewers who are really interested in the film to see it." zhang li believes that the split-line distribution allows documentary films to be screened longer, thus finding audiences who are truly in tune with them. this better solves the embarrassment of "audiences suffering from not being able to find screenings, and theaters scheduling films but no one watching them."
how to promote documentary films in the new media era?
documentary filmmakers need to be “product managers” and explore new markets
"it is easy to say that documentary films should be promoted and made topical, but it is still difficult to do it." fan lixin, a famous documentary director, once lamented in an interview with the media.
in the era of new media, how can documentary films be promoted and marketed well to let more ordinary audiences know, understand and attract them to the cinema? zhang li believes that the current media form has changed. with the power of big data, classifying the audience and accurately pushing them may be a better way to "find the right people."
"documentary is fundamentally about content." the market for documentaries is not limited to theaters and platforms, but can also open up more scenarios, such as providing more matching high-quality documentaries for science and technology museums, museums, art galleries and other venues. documentary films have strong scientific and educational attributes, and these venues have already classified the audience. for example, people who go to art galleries are definitely interested in art films, and people who go to museums are interested in historical films. therefore, when disseminating in such scenarios, the audience will be more accurate. in zhang li's view, "producers must become product managers, improve their ability to judge content and develop the market, and classify the audience of the film in advance. in the early stages of planning, they must pay special attention to conducting research, predicting the market, and making arrangements in advance to better reach the target audience."
dance drama film "only green" attracts much attention
cinema: as long as the film is good enough, there will be a market
since the beginning of this year, popular stage works have become popular on the screen. first, the popular dance drama "the eternal wave" was adapted into a movie and became the opening film of the shanghai international film festival. later, "new dragon inn", which became popular due to the performances of two young actors, li yunxiao and chen lijun, was released on the big screen in the form of a stage documentary film. the dance drama film "only green" will also be released during this year's national day.
"this is a very good form," said shen yan, manager of qinggong cinema. it is a good thing to bring stage plays to the big screen, which can not only make the plays more widely known, but also allow the "hard-to-get" hit performances to reach more audiences. not long ago, "only green" was screened in guangzhou, with the highest attendance rate reaching over 50%, many of whom were fans of the stage version. in response, qinggong cinema also responded quickly, "we prepared green gauze curtains and bamboo tables and chairs. during the mid-autumn festival, a chinese-style atmosphere was set up in the lobby of the cinema, which attracted many people to take photos and check in (as shown on the left), and pay attention to this documentary film that will be released during the national day."
what better way to improve the scheduling of documentaries in theaters? shen yan believes that cinemas are market-oriented and do not restrict themes and types. "as long as the film is good enough, there will be a market for it." she gave the example that "the sinking of the lisbon maru" had a good reputation before it was released, so qinggong cinema also tilted it when scheduling the film, including setting up a golden time. as the reputation of the film continues to rise, schools and film viewing groups have already taken the initiative to contact for private screenings. "one of the screenings will have more than 300 college students watching this film, which is also a good 'history lesson' for them."
shen yan believes that cinema scheduling should not be limited by thinking, but should be open-minded to understand audience needs. "i usually check social media to see what people are paying attention to and understand the market demand outside."
source: guangzhou daily
