New directors appearing in droves

　　THE past year saw the largest number —21 — of maiden works spring up in the country’s film scene since 1979.Focusing on common people trapped by their struggle with reality, the new directors provide fresh perspectives on life with works such as The Missing Gun and My Favorite Snowy Day. Fragrant Bitter Tea delves into the changes in the elderly’s mentality about love and remarriage.The new films seem to have defied a low market with their novelty and rich artistic elements. Some of the directors and leading performers are not even graduates of film academies. Meng Jinghui, originally a drama director, directed Flying Like a Chicken Feather, and Xu Jinglei, the popular actress, was the leading lady for Spring Subway. Meng Qi, director of My Favorite Snowy Day, is an ex-serviceman.While the new directors have impressed people with the number of their works, at an industry seminar some experts thought it accidental that so many of them happened to have debuted within one year. But the seminar attendants agreed that the edge of those new flicks lay in their new outlook and concern for social life. The freshman directors were also thought to have used new directing approaches and marketing means to promote their works.