PRIN 2022 M4C2 1.1-China-Italy-Europe: images and imaginaries compared in audiovisual circulation during the era of Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping expressly addressed the cultural industries when proposing to develop a global

communication policy aiming at <jiang hao Zhongguo gushi= (telling China’s stories well). Xi’s slogan explains the importance given by Chinese authorities to the national discourse: art, literature and cinema are a consistent part of this discourse intended for both domestic and foreign audiences, although articulated through different strategies. The project shall analyse Chinese ongoing practices in the film industry in relation to how existing links (specific co-production agreements, informal and formal networks of co-production, pitching platforms, festival presentations, etc.) between China and European countries including Italy have impacted on the circulation of a certain image of China (a cinematic image but also a general image of China).

Here, it is important to maintain a European focus as Italy is part of a broader circuit of festivals and film-related activities which are often the result of a series of European platforms. The project

shall map out the formal agreements between China and Italy, also in a comparative perspective with other European countries, and their outcomes in terms of film production and film circulation.

It will also study how <co-production films= are shaped by these agreements and what is their impact in the film market. In addition to the institutional level, this project aims to look at the aesthetic and narrative features of these products and how they respond to the European/Italian films depicting China or Chinese elements. The analysis will mainly look at films presented at European international film festivals in order to make the study feasible in the given time, and also in order to look at the main lines, if any, in the selection of films for the European festivals. This will also help the creation of an archive of Chinese elements that have circulated in Europe through films. Ultimately, these various elements that continue shaping the imaginary of China do not

necessarily correspond to the picture promoted by the co-production agreements but rather, they articulate a complex interplay between a plurality of visual and screening cultures