‘For us, by us’: the Tang dynasty-inspired animated film putting Chinese audiences first

30,000 Miles from Changan shows how China’s creatives are keen to resonate mainly with the domestic market

Chinese films treated with suspicion by international audiences amid geopolitical tensions, expert says

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30,000 Miles from Chang’an is shining a light on the focus by Chinese creatives on the domestic market. Photo: Weibo

Published: 9:41am, 6 Aug 2023Updated: 4:16pm, 7 Aug 2023

China’s latest blockbuster, animated film 30,000 Miles from Changan, is wowing audiences with its story about the Tang dynasty (618-907) told through the words of the era’s greatest poets.

But, experts say, it could be some time before the Chinese film industry is winning over international audiences.

The “for us, by us” mentality held by Chinese creatives and their audiences is fuelling the domestic success of Changan and many other culture-specific productions.

Changan centres on the friendship between poets Li Bai and Gao Shi as the film portrays the rise and fall of the Tang dynasty’s capital, now known as Xian, through 48 classic poems. They are poems that audiences of all ages grew up reciting, and the movie has moved many to the point of tears.

Made by Light Chaser Animation, the Beijing-based production house responsible for several other domestic hits, the film was one of the country’s most anticipated summer releases, and has been hugely popular with children and families. In its first two days, box office sales for Changan surpassed 200 million yuan (US$27.8 million) and climbed to 1.3 billion yuan in three weeks.

According to Baptist University interdisciplinary media researcher Sheng Zou, Chinese creatives view their own market as their biggest, which has led to a surge in productions that cater to domestic audiences. Any thoughts of an international release become secondary.

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