A South Korean film draws attention

South Korean director Jin Mo-young presents his documentary My Love, Don't Cross That River at the Beijing International Film Festival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"It's reality, not a show. People like documentaries because everything is just what it is," he says.

"The old couple don't 'act' and so they bring something more natural."

China has so many topics that could be made into heavy-duty documentaries, and Chinese filmmakers have the technology, facilities and the passion to go big on them, but many documentaries here are made in the format of "records" rather than as storytelling projects, he says.

According to an industry forum at this year's Beijing film festival, more than 70 percent of Chinese documentaries are on historical themes, leaving less space for current society.

Jin's next documentary is expected to be on a deep-sea diver, for which his approach would be more personal than narrative-based.

Still, he doesn't know if that would match with My Love, Don't Cross That River.

"Documentaries enjoy very little popularity in cinemas no matter in which country you show them, but they need a lot of resources and time to make."

In China, the situation is similar.

For example, Mr. Deng Goes to Washington, a documentary about Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's historical visit to the United States in 1979, made 17 million yuan ($2.6 million) in box-office revenues in 2015. But even so it fell short of making a profit.

While the Chinese market for commercial cinema is flourishing as the world No 2 after the US, Jin says China should create more space to screen documentaries.

"Documentary makers just need to be persistent, and we can survive."

Contact the writer at wangkaihao@chinadaily.com.cn