Chinese sports fans are able to gather at hundreds of domestic cinemas to cheer on their favorite athletes on the silver screen during the Paris Olympics.
The livestreaming project is one of the latest offered by the China Film Group Corporation. It is one of 35 State-owned enterprises in nine provinces and municipalities selected to implement a reform that began in 2003, which has reshaped the country's cultural landscape over the following decades.
Pointing out that reforms have deepened since 2010, Fu Ruoqing, chairman of the corporation, said that the country's film industry, which has benefited from the reform, has also undergone significant transformations over the past decade.
When Hollywood director James Cameron's sci-fi blockbuster Avatar was shown in domestic theaters in 2010, China was home to 6,200 silver screens, 500 of which could handle a 3D release. The country also had only 22 IMAX systems — the premier facilities for fully immersing audiences in fantastic worlds such as Pandora — which led to headlines about movie fans waiting in long lines just to purchase tickets.
Currently, China has more than 80,000 screens and boasts the largest number of advanced screens in the world.
CINITY screens, which were introduced to the domestic market by the China Film Group Corporation, represent a leap for the Chinese film industry, as its core technologies were entirely developed by Chinese talent.
Combining the words "cinema "and "infinity" in its name, CINITY screens are able to show movies filmed using advanced technology, such as the 2016 war drama film Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, by the Oscar-winner, director Ang Lee.
It was shot at 120 frames per second, five times the standard frame rate of a regular movie. By capturing more frames per second, particularly during action or high-speed sequences, visuals take on a greater clarity, creating a heightened sense of reality that immerses viewers in the scene.
"Now there are more than 170 CINITY cinema halls in the domestic market, and eight overseas," says Fu.
