Promoting global screen diversity: a framework for creating internationally appealing Chinese short-films

The Chinese film industry’s ability to create internationally appealing content remains limited, despite significant growth. Previous research has attributed this partly to limited talent development, insufficient support for short-film creation and distribution, and the constraints of censorship that continue to shape what stories can be told and how they are represented. Yet, in 2022, three Chinese short-films achieved notable international success–outliers that merit closer exploration. This article therefore investigates these award-winning short films–Southern Afternoon (2022), I Have No Legs, and I Must Run (2022), and The Water Murmurs (2022)–to identify the narrative elements underpinning their global success. From this analysis, the authors tease out and explicate a narrative paradigm to support Chinese filmmakers in creating films capable of resonating across cultures. To evaluate the framework’s efficacy, a short-film was produced in Mainland China and submitted to international festivals. After a year-long festival circuit, the film was selected by 21 of 110 festivals and received four awards. This 19% selection rate–significantly above the typical 5% benchmark–demonstrates the framework’s potential effectiveness. The findings suggest that the proposed model can strengthen the Chinese film industry’s engagement with international audiences while promoting more diverse global screen storytelling.