Come and Take Photos! The 30th Anniversary Exhibition of SIFF - Glorious Days of SIFF Kicks Off

Incepted in 1993, Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2023. In the past 30 years, how has SIFF, the only competitive feature film festival in China, grown from scratch, and what legends and stories have it left behind through the years? At 10 am on June 6, the 30th Anniversary Exhibition of SIFF - Glorious Days of SIFF (hereinafter referred to as the Glorious Days of SIFF) was officially launched at the Grand Theatre in Shanghai, and instantly attracted a plethora of visitors with a rich collection of souvenirs from SIFF and fans, especially, the collective debut of the precious Golden Goblet trophies from five generations.

The Glorious Days of SIFF took place at the Grand Theatre on West Nanjing Road, primarily because this landmark cinema, designed by Laszlo Hudec and with a history of nearly 100 years, is also rich in meanings. At the cinema lobby, you will meet with 23 themed pathway flags (no award in 2020) placed step by step to the right of the cinema's distinctive escalator, bearing the names of the best films of each edition of the Golden Goblet Awards (only the shortlist announced in 2020) and the names of the Jury Presidents. Walking up the stairs following the flags, fans will instantly "recall" their memories of SIFF with these keywords. 

On the second floor, in the Fans' Salon, is a collection display area, featuring items of historical value from the festival's collection and the private collections of film fans. SIFF contributed a variety of items of cultural value from the past 30 years, including 5 generations of Golden Goblet trophies, posters of each session, commemorative badges and cards, commemorative stamps and other original items.

One of the most striking elements of the event is undoubtedly the gathering of the five generations of the Golden Goblet trophy, which showcases the concept of trophy design that has evolved with the times. The staff of SIFF in its infancy once explained that back then, there were many proposals for the name of the Golden Goblet Awards, including the Pujiang Cup and the Shenhua Cup, before it was finalized by drawing inspiration from the The Book of Songs, with the Golden Goblet, an icon of the Chinese Bronze Age, standing specially for the cultural legacy of the ancient civilization of the East.

The shape of the earliest Golden Goblet trophy is a perfect incarnation of the creativity that went into it - the original idea of the festival was to wrap film strips around the base of the Golden Goblet trophy, but unfortunately it didn't work well, so a metal film-shaped base was made at last.

The fifth generation of the trophy has been considerably improved from the base to the goblet. While the idea of the Golden Goblet trophy comes from the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the goblet’s shape is based on the Ming Dynasty's Supreme Goblet, which has been simplified in a modern way. The base is made of crystal, which is a symbol of philosophy of "earth gives rise to gold" among the five elements, and claims that the art of cinema is the fruit of painstaking efforts, aside from the functionality of being easy to hold.

Following the vision of building SIFF into a "festival for the people", the Glorious Days of SIFF was conceived with fans in mind from the very beginning. With the theme of "Me and SIFF", collectibles and stories were collected from fans. Thousands of collectibles were submitted, including ticket stubs, posters, souvenirs and autographs...... Each conveys the keen passion for cinema.

Among them, the stories between fans and SIFF, bonded to each other over years, are quite impressive: the 72-year-old veteran fan, Mr. Mei Haixing, has collected the ticket stubs and screening lists of every festival, thus compiling a vivid and awesome "Chronicle by a Fan" for the festival; the young fan, Ge Yajie, has encountered her other half with common interests during SIFF's screening activities, and received blessings from the fans......

In this exhibition, Zhang Zhiming, a plant manager who has served SIFF for more than 20 years, provided blank ticket stubs from several editions of the festival. These ticket stubs, together with the entire collection of Mr. Mei Haixing's ticket stubs, reveal their deep attachment to the festival and resonate with the veteran film fans visiting the exhibition. The Glorious Days of SIFF, through collectables, not only retraces the growth of the festival over the past 30 years, but also shows the warmth of companion as an “old friend” for fans and the public from the very beginning. Enriched through years with memories and sentiments for the past, it is never tainted by the lament for the elapsed time.

At the exhibition site, fans can also take photos behind the installation of the festival's official publication - Daily News - on the second floor of the Grand Theatre, to capture their own moments of SIFF. The exhibition will be open from June 6 to 19, from 10 am to 22 pm daily. Fans and the public are welcome to pay a visit and take photos.