2015-06-10

Richard Bradley: Chinese Documentaries are like Having a Banquet

Richard Bradley enjoys the Shanghai TV Festival a lot. Pic by Shi Peiqi

“These Chinese documentary makers open a window for us to enter the Chinese society,” said Richard Bradley during the interview. Obviously, he enjoys his journey at the festival a lot.

The Daily News: How did you feel when you received the invitation from the Magnolia Award?

Richard Bradley: When the invitation came through, I was really excited for several reasons. One, because Shanghai TV Festival is a very exciting festival, it is one of the important festivals in the Television calendar around the world. Secondly, because I’m really passionate at documentaries, the chance to be part of the jury is really a great honor for me.

The Daily News: What’s your principle for film selection as the jury president of documentaries ?

Richard Bradley: What I’m looking for is humanity, great story telling, story structure, great craft, innovation and the quality of the relationship between the filmmaker and the content of which they are making the film about, and in the end, is it positive and is there anything that makes the world a better place or has added to the undertaking of people in knowledge.

The Daily News: Documentaries about China have always been popular in the world’s market of documentary; besides winning a lot of awards, they also won favorable reputation. So what do you think is the main reason?

Richard Bradley: Compared with some western documentaries that are short, fast and immediate, some of the Chinese documentaries are more like having a banquet. Subjects about China are so fascinating. I and my company have 10 to 15 years of experience in making documentaries about China or in China. Documentary is a very good way to make western documentary makers and audience to learn about China.

The Daily News: Next, we’ll discuss about the market. Now many people want to launch independent cinemas for documentary, so in your opinion, how can they even feed themselves?

Richard Bradley: In fact, I’m not optimistic about documentaries contending with feature films to striving for a share in cinemas. My opinion is that mainstream documentaries should return to the television, network and other new online platforms, which are the best destinations for documentaries. I still hope documentary makers can show their productions in cinemas to attract more audience, but I don’t think it’s the future of documentaries.