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After lights, camera, justshuffle in long queue
By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-11 06:28
The capital's arts institutes have been overrun with creative young hopefuls
desperate to sign up for majors since the annual enrolment scramble began last
weekend.
Beijing Film Academy, one of China's top institutes for movie making,
welcomed 15,000 candidates in just five days since February 5.
"The number is higher than last year when we had 13,000 people signed up,"
said Lu Hua, from the academy.
Screenwriting, film directing, art direction and animation have all seen an
increase in the number of candidates this year of about 45 per cent, Lu said.
But the enthusiasm for the arts is a fairly recent phenomenon.
In 2002, only 32,000 students signed up to sit entrance exams for arts
institutes in the eastern province of Shandong, but the figure soared to 146,000
last year, the Qingdao Daily reported.
The Performance Institute of Beijing Film Academy plans to enrol only 30
students this year, but more than 5,200 people are banging on the doors of the
cradle of Chinese film stars, according to Lu.
Many want their children to work as actors and become movie and TV stars,
according to Cui Xinqin, deputy director of the academy's Performance Institute.
"The increasing media coverage on the movie and TV sector nowadays has
enticed many parents and young people to have that dream," Cui said. "The
improved living conditions have also allowed them to pay for courses and tap the
talent."
But many candidates are sitting the entrance tests to pursue their own
dreams.
(China Daily 02/11/2006 page2)
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