Film fest highlights lives reflected in documentaries

A scene from A Young Patriot [Photo provided to China Daily]

Believing that truth has the power to boost social development and the progress of a civilization, Fu says documentaries can tell the public "what kind of people they should be" and "what is really occurring in the world".

While only a few documentaries of last year's 700 were released in theaters on the mainland, Fu says TV and streaming sites have helped a number of quality works to be viewed by people here.

He says to seek a balance between art and business is a universal conflict. But even in the Hollywood-dominated United States, around 155 documentaries were screened in cinemas last year. He believes China will also see an increase in documentaries shown at theaters when the quality gets better.

For Jeanneau, the jury's French head, the festival has given him a glimpse of China's documentary market.

"I think the documentary in China has already formed an industry, but a lot of things are really young. (Chinese filmmakers) have plenty of stories, but they have to increase their skills in telling them to people who don't know anything about China," says Jeanneau.

As a veteran documentary producer, he also says the formula to making a popular documentary is to "respect the truth and the people in the film".