“I’VE lived in several places around the world, but it is Shenzhen that inspires me to make films,” said Yang Long, a young Shenzhen filmmaker.

    Yang made the remark while sharing his microfilm making experience with two other Shenzhen filmmakers, Peng Chen and Yi Li, at a news conference for the Shenzhen Microfilm Festival.

    “Shenzhen is a great city for shooting microfilms with its stunning cityscapes and beautiful weather. More efforts should be made to promote the city’s development in the microfilm industry,” said Peng, who is widely known for his successful low-budget movie “Walking to School.”

    Organized by Yantian District and the city’s culture, sport and tourism bureau, the Second Shenzhen Microfilm Festival officially launched July 22.

    There are four sections in this year’s festival, including the Jinhong Awards, which offers 10 awards in categories such as best actor/actress, best microfilm and best documentary. The other sections are the Chinese Dream section, which emphasizes delivering positive energy in society, Golden Sea, which highlights the coastal areas of Yantian District, and Wave of the Year, which features company brands.

    Unlike the previous year, this year’s festival invited the public to vote for their favorite microfilms. The first round of selections will be made by votes from a panel formed from the general public; the second round will be decided by both the panel and a professional team made up of local directors, producers, filmmakers and members of the media.

    Filmmakers can submit their films to tywcvip@163.com by Sept. 30.

    Microfilm is one of the fastest-growing segments of China’s film industry. In just the first half of last year, investments for microfilms and online dramas reached 1.2 billion yuan (US$189 million) in China.

    Microfilms normally focus more on rhythm, camera use and emotion, which is very different from commercial films and ads. “However, many microfilms today are very commercial,” Peng pointed out.

    Although Yi agreed with Peng’s opinion, the young director said that sometimes they have to give in. “A film with a 50,000-yuan (US$7,870) budget is completely different than a film with only a 20,000-yuan budget. Therefore, sometimes we have to have advertisements in the film in order to take our productions to a higher level,” Yi said.

    In Yi’s opinion, one of the biggest difficulties for young filmmakers like her is seeking investment. “Investors like commercial factors in films. If a film does not have enough car chases or love scenes, they do not want to make an investment,” she said.

    For example, the team that is known for producing the popular “Old Boy” microfilm series started their careers by producing controversial microfilms with lots of love scenes. The director, Xiao Yang, is also very good at promoting himself with controversial topics on the Internet, Yi said.

    “It can take a long time to make some major achievements in the film industry, and it is particularly hard for young directors who lack investors and resources,” Yi said.

    However, the three directors all had very high hopes about the future of the industry.

    “It’s all about balancing between art and business. Most of the time, business is the first priority,” Peng said. “Once a filmmaker can achieve balance, he or she will become a great director like Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang.”

    (Wang Yuanyuan)