WITH a total investment of 800 million yuan (US$127 million), Chinese documentaries grossed an unprecedented 1 billion yuan in 2011, up 20 percent year-on-year, according to a new report.

    “In 2011, the price of documentary programing [the fees broadcasters pay to acquire the rights] soared to 100 to 200 yuan per minute from the earlier 30 to 50 yuan, slowly closing in on its true value. An industrial standard is being formed,” said Zhang Tongdao, professor with the School of Art and Communication under Beijing Normal University (BNU).

    “The Study Report of the Development of Chinese Documentaries in 2011” was released last week by the documentary center under BNU.

    Zhang, leader of the report team, called 2011 the “Year of Documentary,” citing broadcasts by the Chinese and English documentary channels of China Central Television (CCTV) as well as the HD documentary channel of Beijing Television.

    Figures from the report show that about 58,000 hours of TV documentary programs were aired in China last year. Among them, 48 percent were made independently and 15 percent were bought from contracted documentary makers. The rest were provided through foreign sources.

    Experts attributed the fast development to government guidelines unveiled in October 2010 to encourage TV stations to allocate more time to airing documentaries, with more policy support to those setting up documentary channels.

    Meanwhile, a policy initiated by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) last year to limit low-brow entertainment on satellite TV is also said to have inadvertently helped documentaries.

    As for documentary features, the SARFT approved the screening of 26 films last year, compared with only 16 in 2010, according to the report.

    However, while praising many of these documentaries for elaborate visual quality, sound effects and strong dramatic expression, Zhang denounced the rampant use of 3-D animations and scene re-creating shots as a way to “fill in the emptiness of content and ideology with shimmering technology.”

(Xinhua)