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Fang said he had to rummage through his contact book and exploit all his industry connections to get "Song of the Phoenix" released. When so few people went to see it, he was "driven into a corner," he explained, justifying a viral video many have criticized as a cheap publicity stunt.
Yin Hong, deputy director of Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communication, said things won't look up for independent Chinese films until we see some segmentation in the world's second-biggest film market.
The China Film Association classed only 10 of the 300 domestic movies released in Chinese cinemas in 2014 as arthouse.
"A free and competitive market is crucial to stimulate healthy development of the Chinese film market. Meanwhile, the state should provide some flexible support policies for art films," said Liu Jun, a professor with the Beijing Film Academy.
Shanghai has launched a trial program subsidizing the building of dedicated arthouse cinemas. According to the Shanghai Film Association (SFA), these cinemas and others invite directors, actors and movie critics to screenings of arthouse films before release to assess their appeal and brainstorm a marketing approach.
Arthouse films attract a committed but small minority of viewers, so releases like "Song of the Phoenix" need to find a niche, said Jin Hui, vice president of the SFA.
One solution could be for Chinese films to draw more inspiration from local culture and appeal more specifically to Chinese audiences, something Hollywood would struggle to do, according to Chinese director Gao Xixi.
"The development of Chinese art films should not just rely on the state's subventions, but also on the establishment of a complete industrial system," said another local director, Jia Zhangke.
The filmmaking needs to get better, and audiences will become more discerning as that happens, Jia said.
