SIFF EXPLORE｜SIFF EXPLORE 2024 Announces the Lineup of Mentors

SIFF EXPLORE of the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) announces today the lineup of mentors, with renowned photographer and director of photography Zhao Xiaoding as the chairman of the mentor panel, and screenwriter Jia Jiawei, British screenwriter and director Arthur Jones, animation director Momo Wang, and director Wu Lang (in alphabetical order of pinyin of the last name) as the members of the mentor panel, who will work together to discover new talents and dig out new works.

To stay close to cinema itself, this section is officially renamed as SIFF EXPLORE on the occasion of its fifth edition this year.

As one of the main sections of SIFF and the fundamental element of the festival’s “6+1” progressive new talent nurturing scheme, this section, after being renamed, will, as in the past, adhere to its original intention, enrich the content of the main section, continue to innovate the content of the activities, and create more opportunities for mutual exchange, thereby attracting more young filmmakers to participate in exchanges, preparing the first step for them to realize their dream of making a feature film, and assisting more young filmmakers to continue their advance into the film industry.

Zhao Xiaoding

Director, Cinematographer, Director of Photography

Vice President of the Chinese Society of Cinematographers

Graduated from the Cinematography Department of Beijing Film Academy, he has served as director of photography for films such as HERO, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, THE FLOWERS OF WAR, COMING HOME, SHADOW, CLIFF WALKERS, SNIPERS, etc. He has also participated in the photography of projects such as Promo for Beijing’s Olympic Bid, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. His works have won him domestic and international nominations and awards such as the Best Cinematography at the China Golden Rooster Awards, Best Cinematography Nomination at the Academy Awards, and Best Cinematography at the National Society of Film Critics Award.

Jia Jiawei

Screenwriter 

Graduated from Communication University of China majoring in Theater, Film and Television, she later obtained a Master’s degree in Ethnographic and Documentary Film from University College London. She has rich experience in creating theatrical films, and her representative works include the films MY SUNSHINE, WISH YOU WERE HERE and A LITTLE RED FLOWER, etc. Among them, the film A LITTLE RED FLOWER was nominated for 4 major honors for the 34th China Golden Rooster Awards, the best feature film at the 36th Hundred Flowers Awards, and won the Excellent Feature Film Award at the 19th Huabiao Film Awards, and many other awards from film festivals.

Arthur Jones 

Documentary Director and Screenwriter

Graduated from Cambridge University with a Master of Arts degree, he has been working and living in China for more than 20 years. He has done filming work for National Geographic TV channel, BBC, Discovery Channel and CCTV. His representative work THE SIX, produced by James Cameron, won the Special Jury Prize from the Jury of the Documentary Section of the Beijing International Film Festival, the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Editing Award of the China Academy Awards of Documentary Film, etc.

Momo Wang 

Animation Director and Cartoonist

She is currently the Animation and Creative Director for Illumination Entertainment. Her work PENGLAI, voiced by Scarlett Johansson and produced by Illumination Entertainment/Universal Pictures, was selected for the 2023 Oscars Animated Shorts Longlist. Previously, she created the animated character “Tuzki”, one of the most recognized brand characters in the world, and in 2022 she became the first animation director to be inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame.

Wu Lang 

Director and Screenwriter

Graduated from the Sculpture Department of the School of Fine Arts and Design of Hainan University, he started to work as a film director and screenwriter in 2013. In 2019, his feature film ABSENCE was selected for the SIFF PROJECT, and won the honor of “Jury Special Recommendation”. In 2021, ABSENCE was chosen as a finalist for Competition - Short Films of the 74th Cannes Film Festival. In 2021, it participated the main competition of the 74th Cannes Film Festival; in the same year, it was awarded the Best Short Film at the 22nd Milan International Film Festival; in 2022, ABSENCE’s feature film version of the same name was completed, and was nominated for the Best Film in the Encounters section of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival; and in 2023, his new work SHORT STORY was selected for the competition of short films at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. In works full of personal visual style, he explores the visual interpretation of memory and multiple cultures.

(in alphabetical order of surname pinyin)

Filmmakers who have served as mentors for the previous four editions of this section include: director/actor Sandra Ng, actor Bolin Chen, director Mai Zi, Zhou Shengwei, director Zhou Ziyang, Liu Kuo, screenwriter Yuan Yuan, actress Li Meng, director Ding Sheng, Cheng Teng, screenwriter A Mei, actress Qi Xi, director Chui Mui Tan, Dong Yue, Chen Liaoyu, screenwriter Chen Shu, etc.

This year, SIFF EXPLORE has received more than 1,300 entries from more than 70 countries and regions, which are richer, more diversified and more exploratory works from more younger filmmakers. 50 candidate works will be announced soon, and after the evaluation by this year’s mentor panel, 20 outstanding mini-shot films will be selected in the end.

SIFF EXPLORE will be held from June 20-22, and the creators of 20 outstanding mini-shot films will be invited to Shanghai to participate in official events such as Honor Presentation and Mentor Forum, Discovery Classroom, Screening Salon, Golden Goblet Awards Ceremony and Red Carpet Ceremony.

This June, join us in Shanghai to envision the future of cinema in five minutes!

Established in 2019, SIFF EXPLORE is an important initiative to improve the cultivation of new talents and create a progressive incubation system for new talents. Based on mini-shot films of less than 5 minutes (including 5 minutes), the aim of this section is to establish a long-term mechanism for “discovering new talents and tapping new works” through recruitment, promotion, tracking and training, so as to encourage young creative talents to bravely explore and boldly create, and pave the first step for them toward feature film creation. At the same time, it will take advantage of the platform, give full play to the platform effect, integrate social resources, and promote the building of the talent pool, to cultivate and recommend new talents for the future development of the film industry.