Peter Chan:Keep Calm And Learn

原标题：Peter Chan:Keep Calm And Learn

On April 6th, the new film This Is Not What I Expected produced by Peter Chan, was first shown to the public. When people were attracted to food and handsome actors, the screen suddenly went black. Peter Chan stopped the film because he thought there was something wrong with the soundtrack. It was obviously that Peter Chan has high demand for the film. Peter Chan had been sitting at the back, watching the film as well as the reaction of the audiences.

Peter Chan is one of the most successful directors among Hong Kong film directors who came to Beijing for development. He has done a great job as both a director and a producer. After selected as the judge of the 5th Beijing International Film Festival, his new film This Is Not What I Expected was selected as the opening film of the 7th Beijing International Film Festival. Peter Chan said that the committee selected the film produced by a new director as the opening film to support the new generation of Chinese film. Chan thinks the new era of China’s film industry has come.

China's Film Industry Must Have Fresh Blood

Last year, the film Soulmate produced by Peter Chan and Jo Jo Hui (Xu Yuezhen) was popular. In this year, Peter Chan and Jo Jo Hui cooperated again to make the new film This Is Not What I Expected, which is a maiden work by Jo Jo Hui as a director.

Peter Chan is willing to help new faces, but they have to be approved by Chan “I think meeting the new directors depends on coincidents and opportunities. We have to know each other first and then talk about making films later if we feel that we can work together. The industry requires us to pass down what we know from one generation to the next.” Chan said.

Peter Chan likes working with young people, many of the directors, scriptwriters and producers were the born in the 1980s and 1990s.Talking about the replacement of the performing arts industry, Peter Chan said it is necessary. “My generation has more feelings of the old times and we kept using the same performers of the old generation until at one moment, we felt something was wrong. I chose someone else for Soulmate and This Is Not What I Expected because I know I couldn’t catch up with young people’s minds. I’ve lost the feelings and courage to make films of love stories and I couldn’t do it with only my out-of-date mind. So I need young directors to attract, lead, and inspire me to make the film. We need fresh faces and minds who have different idea, professional performance rather than only good looking face and fame.” Chan said.

Going Out Based on Localization

Peter Chan were the judges of the 5th Beijing International Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. Chan said that making films is exhausting while being the judge is enjoyable because watching films is relaxing. Chan said that compared with other film festivals, Beijing International Film Festival aims to introduce Chinese films to the world, which is the most meaningful thing: to go out.

“To secure a position in the world market, it may take up to a hundred years. Chinese films have a lot of types but the oversea market has not accepted all of them. Like in the past, people thought that Hong Kong only had action films. The truth was we had many types of films but the oversea market only bought our action films. Foreign filmmakers came to Beijing International Film Festival because they wanted to enter Chinese market and we can take the opportunity to show them what we actually have. If the domestic film is only sold in China without influence on international film market, our film industry would never grow strong.” Chan said.

However, "going out" is based on lthe feedback of local audiences. If Chinese audience don’t like the film, it can hardly be accepted in other countries. Peter Chan said that the Chinese film market has a huge population. “Chinese film market and its future are in China’s mainland because the market is about the audience and the audience is the population. What Chinese films should do is to learn from others and make the Chinese film market bigger and stronger.” Chan said.

No matter what role he plays, being a judge, a director or a supervisor, Peter Chan’s standard for a good film is the same. “Although people have subjective opinions on films, I think a good one should be not only touching but also enlightening, which inspires people to think about humanity and the world. If a film fails to balance the two aspects, it cannot be a good film.” Chan said.

Never Complain at Anytime

Peter Chan’s suggestion to the film makers is that 'Never complain about the audience.' "Complaining about why your elaborate film received bad box office while the boring ones were popular cannot help you. It is better to do what you can control.” Chan said.

Peter Chan’s father Chen Tongming was also a famous director. Chen Tongming knew how hard it was to make films so he was strongly against Peter Chan to enter the industry at first.

However, Chan never thought making films were hard. “I spend my time with my daughter as well as on watching scripts, films and talking about films. Film is my interest and I’m proud that I don’t play golf, I don't gamble, I don't smoke and I don’t drink because all my life is about film.” Chan said.

Talking about experience of making films, Chan suggested paying attention to details. How to present the details determines how audiences feel about the film. Another suggestion is that people should open their mind to new things and learn from them. “I traveled to many places and I tried to know how things work in a new culture. I had to compromise because the key to success is to keep calm and learn everything you see.” Chan said.