In the latest in what is being seen as a crackdown on cultural affairs in the country, China’s media watchdog wants to send filmmakers and TV producers to the countryside “to do field study and experience life.”
The move, which chimes with the ideological conditioning of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, was proposed by the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), which said it will organize trips for film and TV series production staff to go to grassroots communities, villages, military barracks and mining sites. Each trip would last at least 30 days.
“This will be a boost in helping artists form a correct view of art and create more masterpieces. The program will be long-term,” SAPPRFT said in a statement on its website.
The watchdog will also send scriptwriters, directors and casting agents to live among the masses each year.
It’s the latest evidence that China’s ruling Communist Party is taking a hard-line approach to cultural affairs.
