Famous directors such as Blind Mountain director Li Yang have weighed in on what makes movies great as part of their role as jury members at the ongoing FIRST Youth Film Festival - and according to Li, it's their conscience.

An Academic Exchange Forum dedicated to the character and cultural spirit of Chinese films was held in Xining, Qinghai province, China, on September 27, as part of the FIRST Youth film Festival.

Acompanied by youth directors, 'Movieview' magazine's chief editor Huang Haikun and filmmaker Cai Yingdian from Taiwan magazine's 'I Look,' jury members Teddy Chan, Li Yang and Guan Hu attended the event, which allowed them to openly express their thoughts on the industry.

Outspoken director Guan Hu said that the individuality of the film needs to be given due weight. He classified Chinese films as belonging to three categories. He said that films lacking in character and cultural spirit belong to the first type - he said these are often created by filmmakers who are led by investors and have little creative control.

He said that the second kind of films are the films which depict the director's vision but are ultimately limited for certain reasons. He said that the 'real' films belong to a third category - films made by film-makers who craft their vision regardless of commercial considerations.

Blind Mountain director Li Yang said that ultimately, films are an expression of the conscience of the film-maker.

"Why do I stick to my principles?" he said. "My intent when shooting a film isn't to gain fame or make money, it's to express my own ideas. Concience plays an important role in filmmaking. This is where the character and the spirit of the film comes from. He also said that he hopes young people hold fast to their concience and values.

The festival was publicized as an event for youth audiences, so the qualities of youth directors were also highlighted.

Three of the jury mrmbers Chan, Gu and Li all agreed that young directors should have a passion for films, bear hardships and be responsible.

"The bubbles in the Chinese film market are just like the stock market in Hong Kong. What we need is to wait, wait for the audience to grow mature" Guan was quoted as saying.

The event was also a time to reflect upon small-budget masterpieces. Plenty of small-budget films are made each year in China, among which the 2006 film "Crazy Stone" and 2011's "Piano in a Factory" have stood out from the crowd. However, the latter one just was screened in cinemas for a short period in order to give way to the so-called blockbusters. Director Chan has called for investors to set up some cinemas on the mainland geared towards screening arthouse and small-budget films.