More to Expect at the 30th Anniversary

Ceaseless Huangpu River, and unfading cinema art. The 25th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) was successfully held from June 9 to 18. This year, the star-studded SIFF has brought together Chinese and foreign filmmakers and cinematic masterpieces on a broader platform for cross-border exchange and cooperation in 10 days to celebrate the art of cinema.

A city of cinema aspirations for exchange and mutual appreciation

This year coincides with the 30th anniversary of SIFF. At the Gala Night of 2023, Chen Kaige, Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh paid tribute to the glorious days of SIFF. Director Chen Kaige said, “The best gift for the festival must be films.” This year, filmmakers across the world have together prepared this gift for Chinese film fans. 53 crews from 26 countries and regions, for works shortlisted in the Main Competition, ASIAN NEW TALENT, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATION and SHORT FILM sections of the Golden Goblet Awards, have gathered in Shanghai together for an unforgettable exchange with Chinese filmmakers and audiences in the name of SIFF. This year’s Golden Goblet Awards have left us an impressive imprint with 36 world premieres and 12 international premieres, as well as a wealth of genres, perspectives and themes. The Main Competition has come with both new works by masters and tributes by the young generation. Now 91 years old, the famous Japanese director Yoji Yamada traveled to Shanghai in person with his 90th work MOM, IS THAT YOU? and said he is still expecting his next work: “I hope to make a light-hearted film that brings fun to everyone with joyful scenes.” Paolo Genovese, director of the Italian film THE FIRST DAY OF MY LIFE, has come to SIFF for the fourth time, and he, who was once a jury member for the Main Competition section of the Golden Goblet Awards, mentioned, “SIFF offers a great opportunity for us to showcase, and it allows me to know the ideas and feelings of the Chinese audience with my work here.”

Cherishing cultures and friendship, SIFF, as always, SIFF bridges people for exchange and mutual appreciation. Wen Yan, jury member of the Main Competition section of the Golden Goblet Awards, noted, “SIFF is an interface for world filmmakers to communicate, and although originally developed around competition, it serves to facilitate communication and exchange in essence.” This edition of SIFF has paid close attention to diverse film cultures. Taking the Asian New Talent section as an example, Lee Phongsavanh, director of the Lao film THE SIGNAL, finalist of this section, said at the press conference: “For a Lao film, to be selected for SIFF and to meet everyone in Shanghai, is a proof of the work’s appeal, and I’m happy for that.”

Established five years ago, the Belt and Road Film Week has now further refined and perfected the mechanism of exchange and mutual appreciation for development in a long haul. During this year’s SIFF, 20 member institutions from 18 countries and regions assembled to share their achievements, exchange experience and offer proposals to take further cooperation and foster quality development of film culture. Xi Luoshi, who attended the Belt and Road Film Week screening as a guest of honor during his tenure as Consul General of Greece in Shanghai, became a film director and screenwriter after retiring from the diplomatic service. With the support of SIFF, he started filming his film debut A DAY IN THE LIFE OF TEDDY BEAR in Shanghai in 2019. During this year’s festival, this Sino-Greek co-production was screened specially in Shanghai, telling about this emerging director’s cinema dream through reunion, bond, and good wishes.

The Belt and Road Film Week has exhibited 20 outstanding films with distinctive local features from countries along the Belt and Road route in Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Hefei. At the closing ceremony of the Belt and Road Film Week, the Israeli film VALERIA IS GETTING MARRIED won the audience vote for the Audience Choice Award; Chinese director Wu Lang’s ABSENCE and Croatian director Juraj Lerotic’s SAFE PLACE were selected as the winners for the Media Choice Award for Film; and Hungarian actress Katalin Román, who starred in the film SIX WEEKS, and Michal Vinik, scriptwriter and director of VALERIA IS GETTING MARRIED, were chosen by the media as the winner of the Media Choice Award for Filmmaker. By the end of the festival, the Belt and Road Film Week has successfully exhibited 111 new works by 115 directors from 49 countries.

A city of ideals to drive industry undertakings with an efficient scheme

Upholding the philosophy centering around “Asia, Chinese Film, and Newcomers”, SIFF, plowing unremitting efforts into the link of talent cultivation in the film industry chain, has gradually established a “6+1” progressive talent nurturing scheme spanning SIFF EXPLORE, Short Film of Golden Goblet Awards, SIFF NEXT, SIFF PROJECT, Asian New Talent of Golden Goblet Awards, Golden Goblet Awards and SIFF YOUNG. SIFF PROJECT of this festival has received a total of 679 valid applications, and through selection, 33 projects were shortlisted, including 8 for NEW TALENT PROJECT, 2 for CO-PRODUCTION PROJECT, 13 for PRE-PRODUCTION PROJECT and 10 for WORK-IN PROGRESS PROJECT (WIP), with a total of 643 negotiations smoothly underway during this program. The organic synergy between links in the scheme has paved the way for newcomers to gradually grow into filmmakers truly engaged in the film industry, while creating various networking opportunities for projects and filmmakers at various creation stages in the industry. SIFF YOUNG has unveiled the shortlist of filmmaker, which includes directors Wen Muye, Shen Ao, Liu Zixunmo, Shao Yihui, Li Xiaofeng, producer Dun He and screenwriter You Xiaoying. Having drawn widespread attention for their successful creative experience, they, as selected filmmakers, will further unlock their creative potentials supported by Shanghai’s policies for the film industry. ABSENCE, the opening film of the Belt and Road Film Week, was once shortlisted for NEW TALENT PROJECT of SIFF PROJECT in 2019 and honored as the “Special Mention” by the jury panel; ONE AND FOUR, which was selected for WORK-IN PROGRESS PROJECT (WIP) for SIFF PROJECT 2020, was screened at this year’s SIFF. Among the 33 finalists, there is no lack of “new works” by our “old friends”, and among them, Malaysian director Tan Chui Mui, who served as the jury member of the Asian New Talent section of the 20th SIFF, joined us again to present her project ALL ABOUT YUYU. She said, “To keep the mindset of a newcomer will get the best out of a filmmaker.”At SIFF, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, “growth” is an ever-interesting theme, as 82-year-old Jerzy Skolimowski, jury president for this year’s Golden Goblet Awards, remarked, “I think my latest film, EO, is the best work I’ve ever made throughout my career, and I’m still a young director to some extent.”

The glory of SIFF in its thirties is underpinned by the powerful revival and vigor of the Chinese film market. And SIFF, in turn, has provided a timely stage for the industry to unleash development capacity and for filmmakers and institutions to release latest achievements. This year, SIFF has brought a total of 75 Chinese films, including 17 Chinese films shortlisted in the five sections of the Golden Goblet Awards, to screen. Among them, 22 films, such as WITHIN, 100 YARDS, NEVER SAY NEVER and the new 4K restored version of EARLY SPRING welcomed their world premieres at SIFF, and the casts of THE GREAT WAR, CREATION OF THE GODSI: KINGDOM OF STORMS, and BORN TO FLY were featured on the opening red carpet. Moreover, the titles of the opening and closing films this year, LOVE NEVER ENDS and ONE AND ONLY have conveyed the beautiful vision of Chinese filmmakers and the magnificent new prospect of the film industry through cinematic language.

Launched with the opening session themed “Chinese Film Industry in the Global Context, this year’s SIFFORUM has come with 12 industry-level conversations, where representatives from various fields and Chinese and foreign guests from the film industry engaged in professional talks, either far-sighted or down-to-earth, that span the entire film industry chain. At the Forum to Commemorate the Centenary of Xie Jin’s Birth, filmmakers paid homage to this extraordinary film giant through various forms in terms of personal experience, memorable memories, sincere admiration and spiritual legacy. At SIFF MasterClass which is familiar to many, four well-known Chinese and foreign film makers, including Hong Kong director Chan Ho-San, Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi, Chinese director Zhang Lu and Japanese director Sho Miyake, shared their understandings and experience about film with film workers and film fans, leaving them deeply enlightened.

Capitalizing on the full recovery of the film industry and the favorable economic environment, this year, SIFF Market has returned to the limelight with the complete lineup of sections. A total of over 100 exhibitors from 29 countries and regions were involved in the offline market, to offer a glimpse into production and distribution, shooting bases, content production, post-production, film and television academies, investment and financing, technical support and other links of the film industry chain. Featuring 9 market events and 5 market screenings, SIFF Market has also ushered in a significant change, that is, instead of seeking transactions of product rights, Chinese and foreign exhibitors had come mainly for promoting film policies of various countries and regions and demonstrating the development efficacy of industrial clustering. The International Film & TV Online Market was held as ever, with 120 exhibitors and 297 projects from 27 countries and regions on display. As the industry is seeking new changes, so is SIFF Market to keep abreast to times. And trying to reach all parts of the industry, it has made continuous efforts to enhance its reliability and prestige as the “weathervane” for the entire industry.

A city of innovation for shared prosperity of the industry refueled by technology

Where the vibrant world of art and the flourishing industrial realm add glamour to each other, this edition of SIFF, embracing the wave of digitalization, is a grand gathering for vanguard technologies and quality projects from film and TV sectors in at home and abroad, to deepen the integrated development of film and technology, and take further the upgrade of the film industry. At the Sci-Film Week co-presented by SIFF and China Film Association in Songjiang District, Chinese sci-fi filmmakers Guo Fan, Wang Hongwei, Lu Chuan, Zhang Chiyu and Dong Runnian joined each other for an insightful dialogue. In the context where technology and film deeply integrate, fantasy, hardcore power and the spirit of science have collided to drive the upgrade of the film industry and unveil the inspiring prospect of film empowered by technology.

Shanghai, the cradle of Chinese cinema, has embraced new cinema scenarios and created fresh experience while inheriting cultural legacy. The Cinema in Focus - SIFF VISION LAB organized in Putuo District, while bringing to the general public a novel experience unique to cutting-edge technology, has sparked the interest in film and technology among more young people, through 360° panoramic cinema, 3D interactive experience, virtual reality (VR) theatre and extended reality (XR) devices, etc., motivating them to contribute to the development of China’s film industry and the building of film strength in our country.

Over the years, SIFF, being professional and authoritative, has served as a platform for domestic and international filmmakers to exchange on new trends, new updates, new fashions in the industry. When Shanghai is fully rolling out the digital transformation of the city, the concept of Metaverse has also been introduced to this year’s SIFF. The Shanghai International Film and TV Festival Metaverse Experience & Roadshow Center set up in Metafilm has brought in nearly 100,000 professionals and film fans to visit and explore the infinite possibilities of the future of cinema. Guided by Shanghai’s twin strategies of building a global hub for film and TV production and a global technology innovation center, the festival, drawing on its own advantages of rich offline scenes, has also created original immersive and interactive scenarios for the film industry and film fans at large.

A city of vitality where a cultural feast is shared by all

To embrace all, and to witness the eternity of cinema. This year, the newly renovated Shanghai Film Art Center, together with 40 selected cinemas in 16 districts across the city, has screened nearly 450 films from 70 countries and regions in 16 main sections and 37 sub-sections, totaling 1,490 screenings, 80 of which have held post-screening or pre-screening meetings and sessions. As of June 16, the number of movie-goers attending the screenings of SIFF has reached 426,000. Besides screenings at cinemas, the drive-in cinema at Shanghai Chen Shan Botanical Garden has presented six films from the RETRO unit under SIFF SCI-FI for the general public, offering 48 parking spaces for each screening session and enriching this year’s festival with a special experience. Also, six cinemas in Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Hefei have screened six films from the Belt and Road Film Week, with a total of 36 screenings.

In SIFF SHOOTING 48H at Shanghai International Resort, eight teams of young people have stood out from 117 registered teams to create their film works within the framework of 48 hours with inspirations drawn from the natural landscape, under the theme of “To Create for the Future”. Being encouraged by the recommender and director Liu Xiaoshi with the words “No matter how difficult it is, you have to persevere and take it through”, these young people, starting from this extreme challenge of creation, may aspire to scale new heights and become a real film creator driven by such spirit.

This year, SIFF has received nearly 9,000 applications in volunteer recruitment, and 735 volunteers were selected to serve in registration center, guest reception, film translation and proofreading, subtitling operation, media service and other positions, of which about 90 came to Shanghai from elsewhere or even overseas specially for the volunteer work.

In the lush early summer, the “Glorious Days of SIFF” exhibition at the Grand Theatre greeted over 20,000 visitors with a rich collection of posters, Golden Goblet trophies, and souvenirs contributed by fans that represent the bond between them and SIFF.

A number of overseas media outlets, including Screen, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, which are considered the “Big Three” in the industry, have casted spotlight to this year’s “SIFF, which is turning 30 this year, and signifies a renewed impetus in Chinese commercial sector and film industry.” The passion of the fans joined by the vision of the filmmakers is the epitome of the city’s aspiration and pursuit of a brighter future before the whole world.