From Western projected motion pictures introduced in 1896 to today’s AI-assisted filmmaking, the transformation of the Chinese movie industry over the past 120 years reflects the country’s undulating path to modernity. Starting in Shanghai, the industry boomed for the first time in the 1920s when domestic filmmakers made their first attempts to create a unique Chinese film genre. Between the 1930s and 1940s in the war-ravaged territory, “talkie” films starring screen icons became more reflective and incisive. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, animated films with distinctive Chinese ink painting were internationally acclaimed. Today, many Chinese films have generated billions of yuan at the box office, and some have made their way to international screens. With AI technology, movies will become more immersive and individually customized. But experts warn the technologies should not advance at the expense of human creativity.
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