EXCLUSIVE: Detective Chinatown hitmaker Chen Sicheng is set to direct Sherlock Of China and produce a trio of new feature films through his own Beijing-based As One Production.
Sherlock Of China (unrelated to Chen’s successful Detective Chinatown franchise) is inspired by the investigations of a pioneering forensic police officer and will go into production this year.
The three projects on which Chen serves as producer are With Her Eyes, directed by Dai Mo and based on a sci-fi short story by The Three-Body Problem’s Liu Cixin, who is the screenwriter together with Giuseppe Tornatore; Being Toward Death, for which Chen is also the head writer and is about a group of hospital patients who know the exact time of their own death; and Mohe Ballroom, a romantic drama about two lovers separated by a catastrophic forest fire.
Chen, who is set to speak on a panel in Cannes on May 20 presented by the China Film Association, places great emphasis on creative storytelling that starts from the story development stage. Writing for the four scripts were completed during two productive months that Chen spent with his writing team after the release of his recent Chinese New Year hit, Detective Chinatown 1900.
Chen noted that the film industry is an ecosystem that is not just about financing. “It is crucial to provide script support to new filmmakers,” he said. “Very few of them can develop their own scripts. ‘What to shoot’ is always more important than ‘how to shoot’. The script is integral to the success of any film.”
Chen has shown his commitment to nurturing new talent, having produced for nearly 10 emerging directors, including Lai Mukuan and Yao Wenyi’s upcoming film Malice, starring Zhang Xiaofei and set for release on July 5 in China.
These also include Dai Mo’s Endless Journey, Jacky Gan’s Octopus With Broken Arms and Cui Rui and Liu Xiang’s Lost In The Stars, all box office successes.
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