Bid Farewell to the 30-Year Glory and Set Off for the Great Vision of Cinema Again

On the evening of June 17, the awarding ceremony and the closing red carpet of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) which returned this year with a complete lineup of sections was held at the Shanghai Grand Theatre. When 91-year-old famous director Yôji Yamada stepped onto the red carpet of the festival for the eighth time with his new film MOM, IS THAT YOU?, and when the 85-year-old Jury President of the main competition of Golden Goblet Awards, Jerzy Skolimowski, and the 81-year-old Taiwanese director Wang Tong, who won the best film at the first edition of Golden Goblet Awards with HILL OF NO RETURN 30 years ago, took the stage together as the guest of honor, we couldn’t help to retrace the glorious days of SIFF in the past 30 years. Ignited by the dance performance led by Huang Bo, leading actror in the closing film of this SIFF ONE AND ONLY, and Wang Yibo, all the filmmakers have rekindled the passion to embark on a new journey with a great vision ahead.

Zhao Jiaming, member of the Standing Committee and Head of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of CPC, Zhang Quan, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, Liu Duo, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, Bai Yimin, Deputy Director of the Film Bureau of the Publicity Department of CPC and Director of the Film Script Planning Center, and Jiang Wenbo, member of the Editorial Board of China Media Group, attended the awarding ceremony.

Star-studded awarding ceremony

SIFF has long been the stage for stars and great films.

At the awarding ceremony and the red carpet, actor Huang Bo became the busiest person. He walked the red carpet three times as the leading actor in three films, and presented the best actor award with Song Jia at the awarding ceremony, saying, “It is not to be busy but to witness more wonderful works!”

Huang Bo’s expectation for wonderful works is a true footnote to the artistic standards of the nominees for the Golden Goblet Awards at this year’s SIFF. The 53 entries, this year, for the main competition of the Golden Goblet Awards were appraised by the jury as being of high standard. Among them, winners of the eight awards in this section stood out in the end. YOKO (Japan) directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri became the biggest winner and harvested the Best Feature Film, the Best Actress, and the Best Screenplay; following it is ALL EARS (China) directed by Liu Jiayin, which scooped the Best Director and the Best Actor; Chinese actors Hu Ge and Da Peng won the honor of Best Actor for ALL EARS and DUST TO DUST respectively. The two embraced each other to celebrate and received the award together. Hu Ge said he had hesitation before taking the role, but really immersing himself in the role after that, “I was willing to devote myself completely to it.” Da Peng, who participated SIFF as a journalist more than a decade ago and then grew up step by step on its platform, exclaimed, “It’s been a really long, hard but lucky path.”

Touching moments shared by Chinese and foreign filmmakers 

This year marks the 30th birthday of SIFF. This 30-year journey of cinema art has been imprinted by too many stories and too many people. At the awarding ceremony that night, people were occupied by touching moments one after another, and one of the most touching scenes is undoubtedly director Yôji Yamada’s recalling of the “cinema giant” – director Xie Jin.

This year sees the 100th anniversary of director Xie Jin’s birth. In 1999, Yôji Yamada attended SIFF with his work GAKKO III, which caused a sensation in Japan, and won the Golden Goblet Award for best director. Director Xie Jin personally presented the award to him, and the two then developed a deep friendship. “Director Xie Jin was not only a well-known film director, he was also a charismatic person,” recalling his old friend, Yôji Yamada, felt sorrow. After the death of director Xie Jin, he made a special trip to Shanghai to visit Xie Jin’s family, and every time he came to Shanghai he would visit his grave, “We’re bonded by movies, and his spirit has always been inspiring me to keep the passion for making movies.” 

This year, Yôji Yamada entered the Golden Goblet Awards with his 90th feature film MOM, IS THAT YOU?, which also held its world premiere at SIFF, leaving many fans and filmmakers extremely moved. “I had hesitated whether to attend the SIFF this year, but in the end I came, and I thought that this might be the last time I would join you at a film festival abroad.” When he said this on the scene, Hu Ge, Da Peng and other filmmakers were touched off stage. When the host Cao Kefan said “we will invite him to the festival next year”, the audience shouted “yes” in unison. This scene also left a warm memory for us at the award ceremony.

To set off towards the next 30 years

With the winners of all the Golden Goblet awards announced, this year’s SIFF is drawing to a close. However, the art of cinema is eternal, and Shanghai in June will always be a destination in the hearts of countless filmmakers from home and abroad. It is the perseverance and passion in Xie Jin, Yôji Yamada, Wang Tong and other film predecessors that add immense glamour to SIFF. And it is filmmakers that are active on the film set, creating with unremitting efforts that herald the prosperous future of SIFF for the next 30 years.

“Every time I come to a film festival, what I feel most is how could there be so many talented people in the world! They produce a constant stream of inspirations and delight us with so many great stories.” The words of director See Yuen Ng are exactly how countless fans praised the hard-working filmmakers at SIFF. Indeed, on the stage of SIFF, there are endless young filmmakers setting off for their cinema aspirations, to satisfy the spiritual needs of the general audience. They cultivate abundant fruits with their wisdom, creativity and talent, making every edition of SIFF a star-studded feast with great films.