Inspiration and influence

Since The Fugitive became the first Hollywood film introduced to China on a revenue-sharing basis, followed by Forrest Gump a year later, the exchange of movies between the two countries has flourished.

Many film experts agree that while Hollywood films are not as popular in the Chinese market as they were a decade ago, some films still attract a significant audience. At the same time, the Chinese film market remains open to introducing a broader range of international films from diverse cultures and genres.

Chinese films, meanwhile, have been trying to expand overseas. In the early 2000s, Zhang Yimou's Hero found box-office success in North America. In recent years, the film adaptation of sci-fi author Liu Cixin's novel The Wandering Earth penetrated the North American market and caught the attention of mainstream American media.

Cinema continues to serve as a potent medium for cultural exchange between China and the US, fostering mutual understanding and deepening each nation's appreciation of the other.

"Film plays an indispensable role in facilitating China-US cultural and people-to-people exchange," says Raymond Zhou, a seasoned film critic. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon remains the highest-grossing non-English language film in North America, and its martial arts director Yuen Woo-ping was also invited to contribute to the action sequences in the American film The Matrix."

At the film festival in Xiamen, many young filmmakers demonstrated an extensive understanding of the film histories of both China and the US. Through dialogue and the exchange of ideas, they gained valuable insight that is likely to influence their future creative endeavors.

Attending the festival for the first time, Edward Drake, a young American director, says that he gained a lot of inspiration from the conversation between Chen and Zemeckis.

"It's fascinating to see two incredibly different filmmakers united by their shared commitment to telling great stories about the human condition. They approach their craft from distinct Asian and American perspectives. That's the beauty of film — it can transcend cultural boundaries, bring people together, and is all rooted in our shared humanity," he says.