Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable. You're listening to Roundtable with myself, Hayoung.
Join by Yushun in the studio and Josh Cotterall on the line.
Coming up, we share with you what brought us sheer delight this week.
Join us for a dose of positivity, laughter, and all things that make our hearts sing.
It roundtable's happy place.
Hangzhou City is buzzing with excitement as it hosts the 20th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival.
With exciting activities and a focus on talent development, this city.
In East China's Jo Jiang Province is a hub of creativity.
How has the Chinese animation industry grown and what's next on the horizon?
Your voice matters and we want to hear it in our Heart to Heart segment.
Got a question, something you're itching to share?
Find us at Roundtable China on Apple Podcast.
Okay, so this week my happy place is a movie that I watched and it's called Her.
Yeah, I think this is a quite famous and old movie I think.
How old is it? It's a 2013 science fiction romantic drama film directed by Spike Jones.
And the main characters are walking Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, but in fact Scarlett only provided the voice for being the operating system in the film.
Having the story is saying that in a near future a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.
I think it's because the recent rapid advancements in technology and the use of AI prompted me to watch this movie and I feel that I gained two takeaways from it.
One is that the highly futuristic AI operating system in this film has now almost become a reality and that is what we are experiencing right now.
And the other one is an interesting trivia about this movie.
Most of the scenes were actually filmed in Shanghai in China rather than the New York setting depicted in the movie.
So with its modern architecture and rapid urban development, I think Shanghai provides a visually striking and futuristic backdrop that aligns well with the film setting in a near future society and the city's skyline with its skyscrapers and advanced infrastructure.
I think it conveys a sense of progress and technological advancements or maybe I'm overeating it.
But I feel that this decision emphasizes that the future envisioning the film could happen anywhere, not just in traditional western cities.
So it also reflects contemporary global dynamics and also underscores the universal elements of its theme.
Yeah, these days I feel like we're all suffering from some kind of AI vertical that is there's so much AI news we did a show yesterday which you can check out on Apple Podcast and the podcast platform of your choice about falling in love with AI, question mark and what was depicted in that movie.
It just sounds like you know, increasingly something that people could be doing or experiencing today.
And do you think that maybe in let's say 10 years time, would we even be talking about AI girlfriends or boyfriends or whatnot or maybe it would just be something that everyday people would experience slash enjoy along the side.
And also that movie came out 11 years ago.
So spoil alert. Well actually there's an expiration date I suppose with spoiler alerts.
If you still haven't caught the ending, then it's on you I guess.
But it's really dystopian.
And then Scarlett Johansson's voices character kind of ditched the guy and the poor guy felt dejected and really distraught.
You know, when he realized that the AI operating system called Samantha was actually quote unquote having a relationship or the same relationship with hundreds if not thousands of other men.
So it's hard ditching him or it's the setting of this movie saying that the future of artificial intelligence operating system dating with the human.
We don't know. I still don't get this.
Okay, I've said this on the show, but I'm reiterating it again.
And you know, there's no physical aspect of this relationship so called relationship.
I don't know if it has a long future or maybe you know, it's only here to possibly filled a very specific void of our needs.
And how does that affect our view in general about human relationships or you know, that part of our spiritual world and also, you know, what about the physical side of things?
It's, you know, a really interesting discussion that you can check out.
Yes, our yesterday's show.
And Josh, do you have something that you want to like chime in here or you know, I'll throw it to you?
Well, I just want to say that I love this film.
Oh, great. I also think that the theme of this movie, it's a beautiful film actually aside from it.
It's really interesting story line and acting and things like this.
It's very beautifully shot.
So there's a lot of things that make that movie, I think, really special, right?
But I also think that the subject matter has been around for quite a long time.
And I personally think that we're a lot further down the rabbit hole than we like to think with this kind of thing.
I think for decades now, we've actually been interacting with computers on a human level.
And I think it goes, one of the movies that I think of goes all the way back to the 60s, which is Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey and a 2001 Space Odyssey.
Sorry. And if you've seen this film, you know that the on board spaceship computer, how 9,000 is quite similar in the way it talks to the astronaut in the way that Scarlett Johansson does as well.
And it ends up with quite a different fate, but similarly distressing and grizzly in a different kind of way.
Anyway, I think that we're a bit further down the rabbit hole than we like to think but her is a beautiful movie because I think for me, it's not really so much a love story, but it's a story more about our desperate need for connection or the human's desperate need for connection and how in massive developed cities, the bigger city we live in, the less connected we feel to one another.
And this film, Shot in Shanghai, or in a sort of dystopia, it could be anywhere, right?
But we know now it was in Shanghai.
It could be any city, really, any metropolis.
So anyway, big fan of the film.
Yeah. And Josh, what is your happy place this week?
Okay. Well, my happy place is a literal place.
Recently I've had the pleasure too.
For the first time in my six and a half years living in China, I had the opportunity to visit in Mongolia, Namongu, and I've never been here before.
I've never been there before, sorry.
And I visited two cities, both of which I still struggle to say properly because they, for me, seem to have a strange amount of syllables in the Chinese pronunciation.
So I'll just say it in English, but I first went to Ordoz, which is Ordoz, right?
Something like this. Yeah.
Nice to meet you. Thank you.
Yeah. And this city was really amazing.
I didn't know that a city like this existed in China and I didn't expect to see it in in Mongolia.
It's, as you guys know, I'm sure so modern, right?
I mean, it literally is quite a new city in terms of its recent development.
And it was just pristine, Ordoz.
It was so beautiful. I went running in the morning and there was this spaceship like looking building on this side, which I think is a museum.
And then there was the theatre on another side that was shaped in the traditional shape of a Mongolian hat.
And there was all these statues and the gardens and there was hardly anybody there.
And it was like I was running through a movie set.
It was really cool. And then in the evening, I played football with some of the locals and it was just wonderful, wonderful experience.
They're quite good at football.
They're actually. And then I sort of did it backwards.
I went first there and then I went to Ho-Hot, which similarly has four syllables, even though in English it has two.
Ho-Hot. I'm not going to try and say it, but yeah.
And also really, really cool place.
I like that there was statues of horses everywhere.
I like horses. And yeah, again, I went running through Ho-Hot and there's some beautiful parks and many, many great things.
The food as well, the food and drink culture here is awesome.
Yeah, I can feel the excitement in your voice.
And that's the thing. This is a vast country and region to region, cities to city.
It just can be so vastly different.
And yeah, that's how I felt when I went to Yunnan as well.
And a lot of the times, I feel very humbled on this show.
And we're trying to talk about all these, you know, a wide array of different topics about our country, about the world.
And I always keep on reminding myself at the back of my mind that is, you know, people are so different in a way.
And the regions are so different and nuanced in so many different ways.
And it's important to sort of acknowledge that.
But also the beauty of the show is that we can still find some kind of commonality among humanity.
And that's always a bright spot for me.
And thank you so much, Josh, for sharing your happy place with us.
And my happy place this week is actually recommended by an American friend.
And I thought, huh, this is a little bit of a different angle of fresh one.
And I like to share with you.
So my happy place this week is actually a TV series that has aged well since 2012.
And it is called Kings War or Legend of Chu and Han.
And Chinese is called Chu Han Quan Qi.
And this Chinese TV series is now on Netflix.
It stars actor Chen Daoming and a bunch of other fine Chinese Thespians in this production.
It tells one of the truly great stories out of Chinese history, the story of the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the rise of these rebellions, the Da Zhe Xiang Qi.
And the Da Zhe Xiang uprising, all the rebellions in that interregnum after Q09 to about Q06 and from the chaos to unbelievable characters emerge, both compelling and complex.
They aren't black and white figures.
There's no clear good guy or bad guy Liu Beng, the salt of the earth, peasant, born, minor law enforcement officer eventually founds the Han Dynasty.
To achieve this, he must outmaneuver the hegemon of Chu, the Xi Chu Ba Wang, the heroic and larger than life Xiang Yu.
These characters are equally likeable and detestable, showcasing moral ambiguity long before it became a hallmark of American premium cable shows.
Despite this, I still and I always will prefer Xiang Yu.
His bravery and tragic heroism resonate deeply with so many Chinese people who admire his unwavering loyalty and noble spirit.
The production is excellent though it's incredibly lengthy and there are 85 episodes, but it's great according to my friend.
Check it out, it's subtitled pretty decently in English on Netflix and I highly recommend it.
These two characters are historic figures that all Chinese people know and we probably have strong feelings about them, but the story is something I suppose anybody could enjoy.
And that's my happy place coming up.
Let's dive into the dynamic world of Chinese animation at the Hangzhou cartoon and animation festival.
Stay tuned. Looking for passion?
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Then tune in to Roundtable.
Where East meets West and understand it is the goal.
As the hour of Roundtable with myself, I'm joined by Yushun in the studio and Josh Katero on the line.
The 20th China International cartoon and animation festival kicked off on May 29th in Hang Zhou.
The 5-day event promises a magical experience for animation enthusiasts.
With participants from 50 countries and many interactive activities, this festival is a celebration of creativity and innovation.
Let's explore the milestones of China's animation industry and its exciting future.
So tell us about what's going on now and there are lots and lots of participants this year.
Of course. This cartoon festival actually lasts five days until June 2nd and the event attracted animation companies, institutions and industry professionals from more than 50 countries and regions around the world, including major animation companies from the US, South Korea and Russia like Pixar animation studio and the Russian Animation Film Association along with many top domestic enterprises.
Also held around the International Children's Day, this festival also launched a series of interactive activities, the International Animation Film Week event extends to rural cultural haus for the first time in allowing the joy of animation to spread to rural areas.
And this event also collaborate with many well-known animation and game companies as well as three national animation teaching and research bases in Hangzhou, including Zhuodian University, China Academy of Art and a Communication University of Zhuodian.
So we can see efforts were made to strengthen the communication and cultivation of animation talents through a lot of these seminars, specialized training and talent recruitment.
So I think why it is international and it is massive because it's not only a mon-gen, the cartoon festival that we used to have normally but it has a lot of these activities that actually it is influencing the whole animation industry.
So is it kind of like a comic convention for international audiences who might have not heard of this before?
Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Josh, I don't know if you've ever been to a comic convention if that's your cup of tea.
I wouldn't be surprised if it is.
I've actually been to one in London and I was really surprised that people are so enthusiastic.
I thought cosplay is more of an Eastern Asian thing but when I went to that comic convention in London, people were die hard fans dressed up in all kinds of comic and animation characters as well as like Star Trek and you know those sci-fi TV shows or whatnot.
So Josh, what are some of the highlights that you've seen here and things that maybe you would like to see?
Tell us. Sure, well some of the highlights from my own country, actually the biggest festival is in Manchester, the Manchester Animation Festival.
I haven't been there myself and I guess that you would guess wrong if you thought that I might be particularly interested in it.
I think that maybe from a sort of journalistic perspective now over the last few years, I'd probably be more interested in visiting one of these conventions simply because it's something that I would not usually go to.
So it's purely from a curiosity standpoint personally myself but yeah, it's massive in the United Kingdom.
You're right to think so.
It's certainly not something that is only popular in Asia although of course a lot of the biggest animations are produced in Asia.
Of course many Japanese animations are huge especially in the United Kingdom but there's a massive audience for it in Manchester, the Manchester Animation Festival, also the London International Animation Festival, the LIAF.
I researched this before the show and apparently this is a massive event as well that similarly they actually show films there but they also have conventions and a lot of panels and things like this so where the audience asks a lot of questions.
This is something that is super popular in the UK with films and things like this.
We love panels in the United Kingdom.
So before movies or even after movies everybody will get in a big room and maybe you'll have a couple of the actors or people who are doing the voices, if it's an animation some of the designers sat there and the audience will ask questions.
And I don't know if this is also a big thing at this festival in China, is it?
I think absolutely. And I personally went to a lot of these kind of comic conventions or something.
Especially when I was in middle school back then, you know, animation, ACG culture was very popular among teenagers I would say.
And yeah, we went to that convention centers and I don't specifically do cosplay but I do like to see them and you can buy a lot of merchants there.
Neonkelson said all of these manga or comic or animation merchants over there and you can take pictures with all of these characters that you like or that you familiar with.
So I think that is a great place for people to see people who has the same hobby or same interest with you.
And I think just in that big establishment, you are seeing people all of these huge crowd that share the same interests with you.
And I think that is a great idea and it feels really good back then.
Yeah, well, finding people of a similar interest and not just online, but offline and you can rub shoulders with them.
That's pretty cool. Also at this festival, there is an award being presented, right?
The Golden Monkey Award.
Yes. Yeah. So it's gaining prominence and to enter the competition and even win something, that's huge for people and practitioners working in this industry.
And also when we talk about animation in China, actually this industry has enjoyed a very long history, I would say.
The early period can be traced back to the 1920s and for some time from then to now, there might have been temporary hiatus periods where you didn't see the industry grow that much, but in recent years, and we've talked about this on the show because we keep you up to speed on all the big things happening here.
And animation has grown so big.
You can see from the box office performance of a lot of these animation shows as well as cartoons that kids can enjoy on TV regularly as such.
So walk us through some of the highlights, I suppose, of the Chinese animation industry that could be showcased at this big festival.
Sure. There are different stages in terms of the development of Chinese animation industry.
I think in terms of style, Chinese animation was influenced by traditional techniques, a lot such as paper cutting and shadow puppetry, paper folding and ink wash painting, a lot of these, you know, craft and fine artists were drafted to help with the design process and creating images based on these historical art and artifacts like bronze, implements, and Chinese New Year painting, something like that.
And also back then, a lot of these Chinese traditional cartoons, the stories are heavily borrowed from these stylized performances of peaking opera and other local opera styles, including features like the use of drums and traditional Chinese instruments to actually show and illustrate the plots.
But after that, I think it also enter the new era of utilizing a lot of technologies, especially now, we are seeing more and more advanced technologies are being used, like 3D, ARVR, people can have more channels to actually view and more diversified cartoon or animation work.
So I think that is what's so fascinating that we can see both the advancement and traditional elements.
Yeah, Josh, you've been on this show for some time and we've looked at the animation trends and also some of the achievements that has taken place in recent years in the Chinese animation industry.
What stands out to you? What are some of the trends?
Maybe you've spotted. Well, I think as China's animation industry develops and also its film industry more generally as well.
I think to develop technologically, I think that we've seen more government support and technological advancements, which obviously help in many ways.
But from this, I think that it's been able to better incorporate its cultural heritage into some of these trends.
And so you see a lot more of these movies, a lot of these animations that as well as being, you know, using fantastic digital technology and having great imagery, it also incorporates more traditional stories, more traditional Chinese elements, which makes them, you know, more Chinese.
And I think that this is really important in helping China to develop its own industry internationally and for it to get more recognition at international film festivals.
I myself have coincidentally been on Netflix and then seen some Chinese animations in the last couple of years.
Maybe six, seven, eight years ago, I wouldn't have come across those.
So I think that this is really significant.
Yeah, as a younger millennial, I have to say, for our generation growing up, we've sort of witnessed how Chinese animation has grown by leaps and bounds.
And the most visually palpable bit is imagery.
I remember when we were little kids in elementary school, it was difficult to find really good Chinese animation.
And I remember there was a manga, homemade homegrown manga called Shuye Yi.
It's about this really beautiful lady.
I know this totally dates me.
And we, alongside buying all the Japanese manga books, and we followed that on this magazine that would publish monthly.
And but that was pretty much it.
And remember, like Da Nau Tian Gong, the 1961's Havoc in heaven was an animation classic and it showcased all the traditional Chinese characters, including the Monkey King, which is a reoccurring megastar in so many animation movies coming out of this country.
But in recent years, it's really quite astonishing how the industry has improved.
Just by looking at the top 10 grossing animation movies in Chinese cinemas in recent years, we can see that among the top 10 highest in grossing movies, while five of them are Chinese home productions.
And Nuo Jia is still the champion of the box office.
The movie came out in 2019.
And you know what? The sequel is coming out this year.
So that's something we're looking forward to.
Yes, I agree. And we can see when we're mentioning a lot of this mangas animations, we can always think of these foreign companies.
They're so good at special effects, music, design and the plots.
But I think in recent years, we can see that a group of highly skilled and dedicated animation companies and designers or individuals are emerging in China.
And their efforts have also gained significant international recognition.
I remember one of the my favorite animations called Luo Xiaohui, or English Legend of Luo Xiaohui.
Yeah, it's actually released in Japan and many Japanese fans expressed their appreciation for the film on social media and try to purchase some cultural products from China, some even started to learn Chinese.
And then I realized that yes, a lot of these animation companies are developing and the whole industry is also developing into a certain level that I think we're so proud of.
Yes, and that brings us to the end of today's roundtable.
Thank you, you should and Josh Katero for joining the show.
Thank you for tuning in.
You can find us on Apple Podcasts at Roundtable China.
