EXOTIC AND FREE: Cuban moviegoers look at a poster for Still Life, directed by independent Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke, at a film festival in Havana in December 2007.

Going solo

Chien's project may be a possible way out for independent Chinese filmmakers who have been struggling with distribution and financing problems.

Getting distributed is hard for independent Chinese films without support from major movie studios. "There is no market for those independent films in China," Chien said. She explained that since the theater chains are mostly owned by the studios in China, most of the films played at theaters are studio films.

This is not a problem faced only by independent filmmakers in China. According to Chien, in terms of distribution, independent American films are also facing a huge crisis. She said less than 1 percent of all independent films made in the United States each year actually make it to the big screen in theaters.

"In this sense, our numbers match the distribution reality for independent Chinese films, most of which find their outlets in foreign territories," Chien said.

But financing is perhaps easier in the United States where there is more private equity, Chien said, though she couldn't tell now how much impact the current credit crisis would have on the financing of independent film production.

Financing is difficult for independent Chinese filmmakers, even for someone like Jia Zhangke who has won international acclaim, including the winning of the 2006 Golden Lion award for his film Still Life.

"When making independent films, how to get the money is a big problem," Jia told Beijing Review. He recalled his experience of making the film Xiao Shan Going Home, which won a top prize at the 1997 Hong Kong Independent Short Film & Video Awards. At that time, he had to think of every possible means to borrow equipment from friends and others. He borrowed a video camera from a news outlet where one of his classmates' father was working. "I can only use it for five days, so I have to make the most use of it," Jia said.