From Red Sorghum to Main Melody: Contemporary Chinese Language Film Theatrical Distribution in Germany Since 1989

In the post-Cold War era, the two formerly divided German film industries merged, reorganised, and transformed, setting Germany on a complex path within transnational film flows amid accelerating cultural globalisation, neoliberalism and shifting geopolitics. This paper traces the turning points over the course of this transformation since 1989, and argues that several social, political, and industrial factors have contributed to changes in Chinese language film distribution in the territory. By analysing two distributors, Rapid Eye Movies and Guang Hua Media, I highlight the diverse programming strategies that have emerged since the unification, with the former specialises in arthouse cinemas, the latter in main melody films and hesuipian. My paper adopts critical media industry research that moves beyond political economy frameworks that highlight the role of media institutions to shed light on the programming and marketing practices and the agents involved in the transnational film circulation.