Golden period for low-budget Chinese movies

The instant success of "Black Coal, Thin Ice", a Chinese production which won a Golden Bear for best film at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival, is further evidence of the increasing popularity of low-budget movies in China.

Costing less than 20 million yuan (3.22 million U.S. dollars), the film noir raked in more than 40 million yuan within three days after it opened to Chinese audiences on March 21.

Low-budget Chinese movies in 2013, such as Finding Mr. Right, So Young and No Man's Land, were huge box office successes, even surpassing Hollywood blockbusters such as Man of Steel, the Wolverine and the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The total box office of the Chinese movie market neared 21.8 billion yuan in 2013, 58.65 percent of which was from domestic films.

Liu Haibo, an associate professor with Shanghai University's film and television art & technology school, said the booming box office was due to filmgoers from second- and third-tier cities and low-budget movies which cover people's everyday lives.

Chinese moviegoers want more than car chases, explosions and eye-catching special effects.

Wang Yichuan, dean of the school of arts under Peking University, said the rise of low-budget movies reflected Chinese viewers' tastes for arthouse movies as well as Hollywood blockbusters.

"Small investment carries small risk, which also makes bold directors more willing to try more diversified genres," said Wang.

According to data analysis from Tsinghua University, low-budget movie fans are mostly young people, 80 percent of whom are female, with an average age of 20.