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'Masters in the Forbidden City' impresses audiences

china.org.cn / chinagate.cn by Zhang Rui, November 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

A documentary film looking at relics and antiquity restoration professionals in China's Forbidden City has amazed audiences in Guangzhou as it readies to open at the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival.

A poster of "Masters in the Forbidden City" [Photo / China.org.cn]


The film, directed by Xiao Han, was originally a three-episode TV documentary broadcast in 2015 on China Central Television. The TV version also became an instant internet hit, receiving 2 million views and being rated by internet users as one of the most influential documentaries. The production crew had done five years of pre-research and four months of uninterrupted filming in the Forbidden City. It uses a young view to scan the old Imperial Palace and uncover the secret of restoration technology.

As the only systematic documentary about the antiquities restoration of the Palace Museum, "Masters in the Forbidden City" is the first film to completely comb the history of Chinese antiquities restoration.

It will open the Golden Kapok Screening section of Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival. The Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, established in 2003, has become the only national professional documentary festival with investing, financing and trading function in China. It will be held from Dec. 12 to 15 in Guangzhou.

After 13 years of development, it has grown into the largest professional documentary festival in Asia. There were 4,059 entries from 111 countries and regions for this year's festival, hitting new records both in terms of number of countries and entries.

"Masters in the Forbidden City" distributors also initiated a 12-city roadshow on Monday. In Guangzhou, their first stop, the film was played to 1,000 audience members on Monday while director Xiao, antique restoration professionalist Shi Liancang, documentary score composer Yao Qian and cinematographer Yan Ming attended a meet-and-greet event.

Although China's documentary film market is far from mature and profitable, Xiao said he paid more attention to how many people really care about documentary rather than box office revenue. "I want documentary films to be screened in theaters, I don't want them to be played on internet or cellphone. Getting documentary films to the big screen is a dream shared by all documentary filmmakers."

The film version of "Masters in the Forbidden City" will have a new storyline, timeline and unreleased footages. While the TV episodes put emphasis on craftsmen's spirit, the film version will explore the theme of inheritance.

The film version will be screened in theaters nationwide beginning Dec. 16.

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