Festival’s red carpet dazzles with screen's brightest talents

More than 200 film celebrities walked down the red carpet of the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival and attended the Gala Night at the Shanghai Grand Theater on Saturday night.

The luminaries included famous Italian film producer and scholar Marco Müller, Japanese filmmaker Sho Miyake, Hong Kong actor Andy Lau, Japanese actress Ai Hashimoto, mainland director Guan Hu, actresses Zhang Ziyi, Ni Ni, and Yang Mi, and actors Lei Jiayin, Zhu Yilong, Wang Junkai and Wu Lei. 

The crew of many highly anticipated films, such as SIFF's opening film "She's Got No Name," summer releases "Dongji Island," "Nobody," "Made in Yiwu" and "The Litchi Road," shone on the red carpet. Production teams behind the entries in the Main Competition and Asian New Talent sections also added to the glitz and glamour. 

"She's Got No Name," set and shot mostly in Shanghai, will be screened citywide at up to 130 theaters from June 14 to 16. Director Peter Chan recalled that his first film photographed in the Chinese mainland was the 2025 production "Perhaps Love." Many scenes of the movie were filmed in Shanghai, a city to which Chan has a special connection. 

This year marks the 130th anniversary of world cinema and the 120th anniversary of Chinese cinema, and leading actress Zhang Ziyi shared her hopes for more high-quality movies to be made with the consistent support of cinephiles.

Director Feng Xiaogang talked about his latest offering "I Know Who You Are." The crime film stars Lei Jiayin and Hu Ge and centers on a police officer's monitoring of a spy suspect for nearly four decades.

Guan Hu, director of "Dongji Island," noted that the film, to be released on August 8, portrays the kindness and bravery of Chinese fishermen in saving foreign passengers from a sinking boat in 1942.The little known historical event was also recorded in Fang Li's documentary film "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru." But the feature film "Dongji Island" boasts compelling visual effects and lots of underwater scenes in recounting this heroic story.

The star-studded international juries of the Golden Goblet Awards also attended the red carpet event. 

Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, who chairs the Jury for the Main Competition of the Golden Goblet Awards, expressed a heartfelt invitation to filmmakers around the globe."A film festival is not only a celebration of cinema itself," said Tornatore. "It is also a rare moment when filmmakers from diverse nations come together to share ideas, exchange visions, and honor cinematic artistry."

The film festival will run through June 22 with a diverse calendar of programs covering the Golden Goblet Awards competition, international film screenings, forums and film markets. 

Shanghai, the City of Film, will become a symphony of light and shadow, offering a celebration feast for cinephiles and a cultural spectacle for the world.