Belt and Road Film Week | Schedule and Events

The 24th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) kicked off on June 11. As one of the major sections of SIFF, this year's Belt and Road Film Week will be held from June 12 to 19, to present events like Belt and Road Film Week Opening Film, Panaroma, Belt and Road Film Week Launch Ceremony, Belt and Road Film Week Yangtze River Delta Screening, Belt and Road Film Night, etc.

Belt and Road Film Week Schedule

June 12

Belt and Road Film Week Opening Film

Time: 15:30 – 18:00

Venue: Cinema Palace, Lujiazui

Opening Film: “ANIMA”

June 12-19

Belt and Road Film Week Panorama

Venue: Cinemas in Pudong New Area

June 13

Belt and Road Film Week Launching Ceremony

Time: 9:30-10:30

Venue: Shendi Cultural Center, Shanghai

June 13-19

Belt and Road Film Week Yangtze River Delta Screening

Venue: Cinemas inHangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, Suzhou and Hefei

June 16

Belt and Road Film Night

Time: 19:00-20:15

Venue: Shendi Cultural Center, Shanghai

The following is a detailed introduction to the Belt and Road Film Week of the 24th SIFF:

“ANIMA”, which participated in the Belt and Road Film Tour of SIFF and was shortlisted for the main competition of the 42nd Cairo International Film Festival, is the opening film of this year's Belt and Road Film Week. The film is directed by Cao Jinling (representative work “Days and Nights in Wuhan”) and starred by Wang Chuanjun and Qi Xi. Li Pingbin, winner of the Silver Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, served as the photography director, editor Liao Qingsong served as the producer and editing director, and Du Duzhi, winner of the Technical Award at the 54th Cannes Film Festival, served as sound director, and well-known musician Lin Qiang created the soundtrack. The excellent crew instills with the film unique aesthetic features in terms of video, sound, performance, editing and other audio-visual languages.

On June 12, the film's crew will attend the opening film event held at Cinema Palace at Lujiazui Center, to share the creation story with the audience, and participate in interactive sessions such as on-site lucky draws and group photos.

20 outstanding films from countries along the Belt and Road Initiative route, including the opening film “ANIMA” will be screened in cinemas in Pudong New Area this year. Among them, some have been screened in international film festivals in Venice and Berlin for example. Currently, the tickets of the screening sessions in Shanghai of 5 films including “ANIMA”, “Natural Light”, “Butterfly Stroke”, “Moon, 66 Questions”, “Flashback” have been sold out. And there will few left for “Memory Box”, which is shortlisted for the main competition of the 71st Berlin International Film Festival this year, “Apples” shortlisted for the horizon unit of the 77th Venice International Film Festival in 2020, the warm road film “Abu Omar” selected for the 2020 Tokyo International Film Festival, and “Yanka Kupala”, which depicts the magnificent life of events of the poet with beautiful music images.

On June 13, the launching ceremony of the Belt and Road Film Week will be held at Shendi Cultural Center, Shanghai. At the launching ceremony, Shanghai International Resort will release related film and television industry projects. The SIFF Organizing Committee and representatives from the Yangtze River Delta will jointly witness the start of the first Belt and Road Film Week Yangtze River Delta Screening.

On the same day, Belt and Road Film Week Yangtze River Delta Screening will be presented in 5 cities including Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, Suzhou and Hefei to show “Natural Light”, “Butterfly Stroke”, “Senior Citizen”, “Abu Omar”, “La vita davanti a sé”, and “Curfew”. Currently, the ticketing for the Yangtze River Delta Screening is available on Taopiaopiao.

Belt and Road Film Night 2019

On June 16, the special event Belt and Road Film Night of the Film Week will be held Shendi Cultural Center, Shanghai. Representatives of filmmakers will attend this event to share their film creation journey and promote mutual learning of film cultures under the Belt and Road Initiative.

In 2018, the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance was established in Shanghai. After three years of development, it has attracted 53 institutional members from 45 countries. The Belt and Road Film Week was founded in the same year, which supported by the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance, aims to hold a series of events such as screenings, forums, industry dialogues, and market promotions; the Belt and Road Film Tour has been dedicated to recommend outstanding Chinese films and filmmakers to film festivals of countries along the Belt and Road Initiative route, to form a synergy for annual screenings and global panorama, promote the consultation, co-construction and sharing among filmmakers and film institutions in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative route, further deepen the exchange and mutual learning of film culture, and build a bond between people and people. In 2020, actors Tumen and actress Bai Baihe served as promotion ambassadors for the Belt and Road Film Week. And the promotion ambassadors for 2021 are martial artist and actor Donnie Yen, director Jia Ling and actress Zhang Xiaofei. They will attract more attention from all walks of life for film culture exchange under the Belt and Road Initiative.