Film Regulator Promotes and Guides State-Sponsored Television Documentaries

On January 17, 2013, the state-sponsored China Daily published an article entitled "CCTV Releases Documentary on Tibetan Self-Immolation." The report stated:

National broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) has released a documentary on self-immolation in the country's Tibetan-inhabited areas. The documentary debuted at 9:27 pm on Dec 23 on CCTV-4, an international channel mainly targeting overseas viewers in Chinese language. It also aired on CCTV's English channel, Spanish channel, French channel, Arabic channel and Russian channel on Monday.

On January 22, the China Daily published an article entitled "Govt-Sponsored Documentary Website Launched."  According to that report:

Jointly set up by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and the China Network Television, the site will cover policy releases, industrial trends, expert advice for documentary makers, project financing, academic research and other functions.

On February 23, the state-sponsored Global Times published an article entitled "SARFT to Approve Documentaries." Some excerpts:

The new policy, which comes into effect immediately, stipulates that all television documentaries for public broadcast, produced by television stations, commercial studios and social organizations, should submit a content summary, cast list and shooting plan to SARFT before filming starts.
SARFT will then review all the information and publish the approved list of documentaries to TV stations. According to the announcement, the purpose of the new policy is to avoid subjects overlapping and resources being wasted.

Here is a translation of an excerpt from SARFT's "Notice Regarding the Implementation of a Television Documentary Subject Matter Reporting System" (关于实行电视纪录片题材公告制度的通知):

Article 3. SARFT shall conduct an analysis of national television documentary subject matter information, and after communicating and coordinating with production companies, will formulate and publish a "National Television Documentary Subject Matter Catalog."
Article 4. The television documentaries produced by State-owned enterprises and their production companies listed in the "National Television Documentary Subject Matter Catalog" will have priority in participating in SARFT's review for promotion as outstanding State-produced films and annual outstanding state-produced documentaries and for support projects for their creative personnel.
三、国家广电总局对全国电视纪录片题材信息进行汇总分析，与制作机构沟通协调后，制定《全国电视纪录片题材目录》，向社会公告。
四、列入《全国电视纪录片题材目录》的国产电视纪录片及其制作机构，可优先参评国家广电总局推荐优秀国产纪录片和年度优秀国产纪录片及创作人才扶持项目。

URL: http://www.sarft.gov.cn/articles/2013/02/18/20130218111359760093.html