And the winner is...no one.
获奖者是……没有获奖者。
That was the message from the China Film Directors' Guild, which declined to hand out its two top prizes--best picture and best director--for 2013, citing a lack of high-quality contenders.
这是中国电影导演协会(China Film Directors' Guild)2013年度表彰大会所传递出来的信息。此次大会年度影片和年度导演空缺,原因是缺乏高质量的参选者。
'What China's film industry needs now is not to be coddled, but to hold itself to a higher standard,' said director Feng Xiaogang, chairman of the guild's nine-director awards jury.
本届表彰大会终评委主席、导演冯小刚表示,导演协会的表彰不应该是自娱自乐,中国电影应该树立一个更高的标准。评委会由九人组成。
China's box office has been booming in recent years, growing from a mere 950 million yuan ($153 million) in 2002--when China first began allowing modern theater chains--to 21.6 billion yuan last year. But an increase in quality hasn't followed the increase in revenue, directors and many industry experts say.
近年来中国电影票房迅速增长,从2002年的仅人民币9.5亿元(合1.53亿美元)增至去年的人民币216亿元。2002年,中国开始允许现代电影院线在其市场运营。但导演们和很多业内专家表示,票房收入的增长并没有伴以影片质量的提升。
'Decades ago, many film directors resolutely gave up their artistic ideals to save the Chinese film market from going bankrupt and devoted themselves to the flood of commercial films,' Mr. Feng said at the awards ceremony Wednesday night in Beijing, which was aired live on state television.
冯小刚在上周三晚间北京举行的表彰大会上表示,十几年前为挽救濒于破产的中国电影市场,很多电影导演毅然放下了自己的艺术理想,投身到商业电影的洪流中。国有电视台直播了表彰大会。
Prominent Chinese director Jia Zhangke's 'A Touch of Sin,' which won best screenplay at last year's Cannes film festival and has been critically celebrated, wasn't eligible for consideration for the awards because Mr. Jia's company couldn't provide the guild a legal copy of the film on DVD or online. This film didn't make it to China's big screens because it hasn't been approved by censors.
知名中国导演贾樟柯的《天注定》(A Touch of Sin)不符合参选条件,因为贾樟柯的公司无法向中国电影导演协会表彰大会以DVD或网络形式提供影片的合法拷贝。该片在去年的戛纳电影节上获得最佳编剧奖,受到影评人的热烈好评。由于尚未获得审查机构的批准,这部影片没有在中国影院上映。
A number of low-budget films made by young Chinese directors were also nominated for the best director and best picture awards, including 'So Young,' a story about people reminiscing about their college days by actress-turned-director Vicki Zhao.
年轻中国导演执导的几部低成本影片也入围了年度导演和年度影片奖的提名,包括演员出身的导演赵薇的《致我们终将逝去的青春》(So Young)。该片讲述的是对大学生活的回忆。
Tsai Chin, a veteran Taiwanese pop singer and actress who performed at the awards ceremony, said she was disappointed the directors didn't recognize young talent in directors like Ms. Zhao, whose movie ranked third at the Chinese box office in 2013.
参加本次颁奖演出的台湾流行歌坛常青树蔡琴表示,评委们没有认可赵薇等年轻导演的才华,她觉得很失望。赵薇执导的影片《致我们终将逝去的青春》在2013年中国电影票房榜上排在第三。
'Ms. Zhao didn't win an award, and I don't know who is to blame. As a film fan, I hope that filmmakers can open their minds and find new insight and encouragement,' she said. 'We shouldn't dislike others just for being young. Who wasn't young before?'
她表示:“赵薇小姐今天没有得奖,不晓得是谁该检讨,但是作为影迷的我们很希望看到各地的电影人都有新的胸怀、有新的眼光、有新的鼓励。”她说:“我们都是从年轻开始进入这个工作的,所以没有人会觉得你们老去,所以我们也不要嫌弃别人比较年轻。哪一个人不是这样开始的呢?”
Local productions from last year may not have won favor with Chinese directors, but they did with Chinese audiences: Domestic films accounted for 12.7 billion yuan, or about 59%, of total box-office receipts in 2013. (Chinese authorities currently have a quota for imported films, limiting them to 34 per year).
去年中国国产影片也许没有赢得中国导演的青睐,但它们却赢得了中国观众的喜爱:国产影片票房达人民币127亿元,占2013年总票房的约59%。(中国当局目前对进口影片设定了额度,每年最多只能进口34部。)
Amid the somber mood at the festival, Mr. Feng encouraged anyone who calls himself a director to return to his roots as an artist.
在表彰大会的阴郁气氛中,冯小刚鼓励任何自称导演的人回归到艺术家的根本。
'It's time for us as filmmakers to resume our ideals to build the humanistic spirit of film and go back to art itself,' Mr Feng said. 'Otherwise, we are unworthy of the time and the title of film director.'
冯小刚表示,此刻该是重拾电影人的理想,重塑电影的人文精神,回归电影艺术本体的时候了。他还说,否则将愧对这个时代和电影导演的称号。