China's Finally Getting an Official Art House Film Circuit

It was announced that an official art house film circuit has finally been greenlit in China and will be headed by the China Film Archive. The CFA along with a number of both private and public sector companies make up the membership. 100 cinemas are already part of the initial network and and an expect 400 more are expected to join. Huaxia Film Distribution, Wanda Cinemas, Broadway Cinematheque, Lumiere Pavilions, online ticketing firm Weying Technology, gand French mini-conglomerate MK2 all count themselves among the partners in the network. 

It's worth noting that China has had a number of circuits of underground art house film festivals for years. An old teacher of mine spent the better part of his PhD studying these hushed events with well-known directors whose latest works would no longer pass government censors. These events were always very much for the short list of people in the know, so this new art house film circuit breaks new ground. This officially sanctioned circuit will be the first opportunity where general audiences will have the opportunity to participate in such an event. 

Participating cinemas are given relative freedom in their screenings but are expected to commit to screening at least 3 art house films per day, and 10 screenings per week must be during prime hours. The CFA will be curating a number of thematic strands from which network cinemas are expected to select from to create their own programs. 

The details on import laws surrounding these art house films is still unclear, but it is expected that films making at past censors and into the program will not be counted toward the commercially-driven film quotas. This means Chinese audiences may finally get to see films by the likes of Woody Allen, or Pedro Almodovar on the big screen.

This is a summary of an original Variety article.