As rapidly evolving technologies, especially artificial intelligence, continue to reshape the century-old film industry, filmmakers are facing growing uncertainty about the future. Despite these changes, emotional connection and real-life details remain the key factors that draw young audiences to cinemas, insiders said at a forum held in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Friday.

Titled the Forum on High-Quality Development of the Film Industry, the event — one of 11 subforums of the Forum on Building up China's Cultural Strength 2026 — gathered around 200 industry veterans to discuss ways to create quality works and develop the cinematic economy, such as integrating cinema, tourism, and cultural products.

The emphasis was echoed in recent box-office successes. One of the most popular films this year, Dear You, is a heartwarming film that cost merely 14 million yuan ($2.06 million) but has grossed around 800 million yuan at the box office. Lan Hongchun, the film's director, said that being realistic was their top priority during the creative process.

Unfolding from the perspective of a young man's journey to Thailand to seek his long-lost grandfather — whom he believes to be a billionaire — the film recounts a family secret buried for half a century, reflecting the hardships of immigrants from the Chaoshan region in Guangdong.

Lan revealed that he and his fellow creators interviewed nearly 300 overseas Chinese families in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States. They also visited a film archive in Thailand, where they managed to watch video recordings of Chinese immigrants in cities like Bangkok decades ago.

"We have always believed that a good story is never fabricated out of nothing or deliberately embellished; instead, it comes from life, from truth, and from the emotional fabric of ordinary people," said Lan.

A similar commitment to storytelling innovation, though in a different genre, was highlighted by Yu Baimei, screenwriter of Blades of the Guardians. He revealed that the film, which features over 30 characters, sought innovation to engage the young generation of theatergoers. Despite being one of the first to introduce Chinese-language cinema to the West, the genre of martial arts has seen its charm fade in recent years.

Faced with the many uncertainties of the era, Yu explained that they found a new approach: retelling a story set during the collapse of the Sui Dynasty (581-618) by infusing the heroic roles — an unlikely team helping a spiritual leader escape from pursuing villains — with a shared pursuit of certainty. It was seeking freedom — the one sure goal — in their own way.

Blades of the Guardians, which was released during the country's most lucrative box office season — Spring Festival — both domestically and in over 10 foreign countries, has raked in $216 million globally, becoming the highest-grossing martial arts film of all time. "The film has evoked the enthusiasm and passion for wuxia (martial arts hero) films that lie in Chinese people's cultural genes," said Yu.

Wang Jun, chairwoman of the Shanghai Film Group, echoed that although AIGC technology is profoundly reshaping the way films and TV shows are produced, the very foundation on which audiovisual works stand has never changed: authentic and moving stories remain an essential spiritual need for the people.

In addition, the group has continued to pursue innovation in reviving classics — for example, earlier this month, they used 2,000 drones to create a light-and-shadow show about Calabash Brothers, a phenomenal hit series first broadcast in 1986.

"No matter how the industry evolves or changes, a good story that touches the heart will always be the very foundation on which the industry stands", said Wang.

xufan@chinadaily.com.cn