The Belt and Road Film Week | Southeast Asian-themed Market Unveils Summer Surprises

2025 marks the seventh year of the Belt and Road Film Week at the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF). In addition to showcasing a diverse range of films and thought-provoking forums, the Belt and Road Film Week has expanded beyond the cinema, organizing a series of exciting events that blend industry depth with cultural breadth, integrating the fields of culture, tourism, business, and sports. At the Bicester Village in Pudong, Shanghai, the Southeast Asian-themed Market has captured the attention of many local residents and tourists.

Located by the lake in Bicester Village, the Market is set against a backdrop of shimmering water and lush greenery, featuring a series of market stalls with distinctive Southeast Asian charm. These stalls are built with wooden frames and thatched roofs, surrounded by potted plants, giving visitors the feeling of stepping into a sun-soaked Southeast Asian paradise.

The market brings together a variety of unique brands, including MAISON CANELÉS, FATPHO, icedea, and others, offering authentic Southeast Asian cuisine and creative desserts. Ms. Xu, a local resident who visited Bicester Village for a “mini vacation” over the weekend, tried a freshly made Vietnamese pho and immediately complimented the stall owner, saying, “The taste is quite authentic.”

While satisfying visitors’ taste buds, the lakeside area centered around the market also holds many summer “surprises” waiting to be unlocked. From June 20 to June 22 and June 27 to June 29, from 12:00 PM to 5:45 PM each day, the performance area next to the market will feature exciting live band performances and Muay Thai demonstrations. Multiple bands with diverse musical styles will bring energetic beats to the summer. If you’re up for it, you can also put on the gloves and spar with professional Muay Thai coaches, throwing punches to kickstart your vacation mode.

When the sun dips below the horizon and night descends, a 200-inch outdoor screen transforms the lakeside area into a hub of cultural energy. Starting at 7:00 PM each evening, open-air screenings of acclaimed films such as I Am What I Am, Brothers of the Wind, and Nice View will be held. Mr. Huang and his family had spent the entire afternoon exploring Bicester Village, and upon seeing the film titles light up on the big screen, he and his wife decided to delay their trip home. They settled onto bamboo stools facing the screen, savoring both the physical relaxation and emotional comfort the film offered.

From June 20 to June 29, each night from 7:30 PM to 9:40 PM, the area surrounding the Market will come alive with a mesmerizing light-and-bubble show. This romantic visual feast blends light installations with misty bubbles to create an enchanting, layered space of shimmering movement. Carried by the evening breeze, bubbles will dance through the air, while light projections shift and ripple across the landscape, offering guests a dreamy and immersive experience.

It’s also worth noting that visitors who bring their SIFF ticket stubs to the Market can unlock additional surprises: vouchers worth hundreds of yuan, limited-time hands-free shopping services, coffee coupons, and exclusive T9tea collectible transparent cards exclusive to SIFF - all available in limited quantities on a first-come, first-served basis.

With gourmet food, live music, sports, movies, and a “mini-vacation” city vibe, the Belt and Road Southeast Asian-themed Market bridges everyday living with cinematic art, creating an immersive experience that fuses visual, culinary, and cultural delights. Since its inception, the Belt and Road Film Week has grown into a global industry dialogue platform, while continually expanding its reach. By integrating diverse resources and enriching the film consumption ecosystem, it explores a new model of fusion development across culture, tourism, business, sports, and exhibitions.

The Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance was initiated by the Organizing Committee of SIFF and was established in 2018, currently consisting of 57 member institutions from 50 countries. Against the backdrop of the Belt and Road Initiative, the alliance focuses on reciprocal film recommendations and filmmaker exchanges, and aims to enhance the capabilities of film curation, promote mutual understanding among filmmakers, facilitate film cooperation projects, strengthen exchanges in film culture among countries, establish a close information-sharing mechanism, and explore future development models for film festivals.

Civilization thrives through exchange and mutual learning. Since the establishment of Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance, SIFF, together with the Publicity Department of the CPC Pudong New Area Committee (District Cultural, Sports and Tourism Bureau), and the Administrative Committee of Shanghai International Resort, has teamed up to organize the Belt and Road Film Week, and created a mechanism with the Belt and Road Film Tour, effectively promoting two-way exchanges and mutual learning between filmmakers and film cultures along the Belt and Road route, and further enhancing cultural exchanges and people-to-people bonds among countries along the route.