1921 (2021): China’s Tencent Pictures to Release Patriotic Pro-Government Commemorative Film

China’s Tencent Pictures to Release Patriotic Pro-Government Film

The film production arm of the Chinese technology corporation Tencent has announced one of their biggest upcoming projects: 1921, a blockbuster epic about the founding of the Chinese Communist Party one hundred years ago.

It’s hardly surprising then that despite all the production difficulties and slowdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic that have shifted release dates worldwide, Tencent has already stipulated a July 1st, 2021 release date to coincide with the historical founding of China’s ruling party.

1921 will be produced jointly by Tencent Pictures and the Shanghai Film Group. It will be directed by Fifth Generation helmer Huang Jianxin, who is known for co-directing with Han Sanping, the ex-China Film Group chairman, the two best examples of China’s nationalistic film genre: propaganda films The Founding of a Republic (2009) and The Founding of an Army (2011). 1921 is one of at least 21 pro-government films that Tencent Pictures and China Literature and New Classics Media are currently working on. These patriotic movies account for nearly half of the 56 titles unveiled at the Tencent press event in Shanghai on Monday.

Cheng Wu — the vice president of Tencent Group and CEO of Tencent Pictures — said that the films will examine social issues, noting “Such works are close to lived experience, and so resonate emotionally more easily with audiences. Plus, as the industry’s ability continuously improves, it’s becoming increasingly possible to shoot high quality realistic works.”

Tencent began development on1921 three and a half years ago, said producer Ren Ming. The team had great difficulty filming during the pandemic, which brought down plans to shoot overseas and cast foreign actors. But the greatest difficulty was a request from the Shanghai municipal propaganda bureau, who directed them to gather 100 celebrity actors to appear in the 100th anniversary movie. “Our first reaction was that this was an impossible task,” she said. “There have been big changes since to our cultural and market environment. Talented actors nowadays have more options and keep very busy.”

However the career elevation and political favors that come from kowtowing to Beijing is incredibly tempting even for top stars, not to mention the potential punishment that may come from turning down such a role. “What surprised and really touched me was that pretty much every actor we called extremely readily accepted our invitation, and actively took great pains to clear their schedules to make it happen,” said Ren. “They all said the same thing to me: ‘I’m coming because this is to celebrate the Party’s 100th anniversary. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’.”

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