Belt and Road Film Week | Film Night Shows the Charm of Light and Shadow, Film Tour Exhibition Restarts Exchanges and Mutual Learning

On the evening of June 16, the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival Belt and Road Film Night was held at Shanghai Shendi Cultural Center. Industry representatives and well-known filmmakers gathered to share the glamour of film. Hang Yingwei, Deputy Secretary-General of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and Head of Pudong New Area, Gao Yunfei, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and Director of the Municipal Film Bureau, Jin Mei, Member of the Standing Committee of the Pudong New Area Committee of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive Deputy Director of the Resort Management Committee, and the Belt and Road Film Week promotion ambassadors Jia Ling and Zhang Xiaofei jointly launched the new round of Belt and Road Film Tour.

At the scene of the event, Cao Jinling, the director and screenwriter of the opening film "ANIMA" of the Belt and Road Film Week, described the filming experience of the film. “ANIMA" participated in SIFF PROJECT of the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2018. Last year, under the recommendation of the Shanghai International Film Festival, the film was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Cairo International Film Festival in Egypt, and through the Belt and Road film tour mechanism, more foreign audiences can understand the development of Chinese movies today. After touring exhibitions all over the world, "ANIMA" returned to the Shanghai International Film Festival Belt and Road Film Week this year. The wonderful journey of this film reflects the meaning and value of Belt and Road Film Week's promotion of film exchanges and mutual learning among countries along the Belt and Road initiative route.

Director Pema Tseden's "The Search" was the winner the Golden Goblet Main Competition Jury Prize. And Pema Tseden, who has returned to SIFF, said with emotion: "SIFF is full of multiculturalism and tolerance, and it should further become an important platform for promoting cultural exchanges. Today I came to the Belt and Road Film Night, hoping to see more excellent filmmakers go to the world and show Chinese culture through light and shadow."

As old friends of the Belt and Road Film Week, the promotion ambassador of the Belt and Road Film Week in 2020, Tu Men, shared with the audience his feelings as a promotion ambassador last year. “During the film week, I participated in the open screening activities. It’s a different experience. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the screening, many staff have done a lot of work. It is true that the film will not end, and we will not leave." In addition, Tu Men also shared his expectations on the Belt and Road Film Week. "I hope that the Belt and Road Film Week, a wonderful film culture exchange platform, can continue to be held in future, bring good films and good experiences to the audience, help us film workers to bring our works to audiences all over the world and promote cultural exchanges as always."

The box office of "Hi, Mom" released during the Spring Festival this year exceeded 5.3 billion, and director Jia Ling became "the female director with the highest the box office in China". That night, Jia Ling and the film's leading actress Zhang Xiaofei came to the event as the promotion ambassador of this Belt and Road Film Week. Zhang Xiaofei described her "dream chasing journey" with emotions, and expressed her expectation for the movie "Hi, Mom" to participate in the Belt and Road Film Tour: "I look forward to our movie being screened in the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative route. Family affection is a common feeling for all mankind. I believe that audiences in other countries can also feel the sincere feelings between mother and daughter in the movie and I look forward to their feedback."

Director Jia Ling believes that the film is a carrier of feelings, "It is precisely because of the filming of "Hi, Mom", that I feel that I have less regret for my mother." She expressed that she hopes that this film about maternal love will reach more foreign fans, "We can send Chinese movies to more places in the world through film tour. This is my original intention."

Since its inception in 2018, the Belt and Road Film Week has been an important part of the Shanghai International Film Festival. Relying on the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance, which was established in the same year and now develops well, it is dedicated to promoting mutual learning among civilizations and people-to-people bonds, creating opportunities for cooperation and fulfilling the responsibility of educating and benefiting the people. This year, the Belt and Road Film Week, with the theme of "Opening the Heart", held events including open screenings, film week launching ceremony, panorama, and film night. At the same time, it also comes for the first time to the Yangtze River Delta out of Shanghai this year. Six award-winning masterpieces were selected for screenings in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, Suzhou and Hefei, bringing all-inclusive new films from around the world more to film fans in the Yangtze River Delta.