Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance | New Members for a Shared Future

Recently, Colombia's Bogotá Film Festival and Burkina Faso's Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou have joined the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance, and the number of alliance members has increased to 55 film festivals and film institutions in 46 countries.

Initiated by Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) in 2018, the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance has been expanding and upgrading in the past five years, with increased member number and deepened exchanges and mutual learning. In 2022, the alliance welcomes two new members, the Bogotá Film Festival in Colombia and the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) in Burkina Faso.

Logo of Bogotá Film Festival

Logo of FESPACO

Representatives of the two film festivals communicated with the alliance secretariat set up by SIFF through a video conference. Founded in 1984, Bogotá Film Festival in Colombia, South America, is now recognized as a worldwide film festival dedicated to discovering new directors. In the video conference, Henry Laguado, director of Bogotá Film Festival, expressed that he especially hoped to discover and invite the films of young creators to share with the local audience in Bogotá through the Belt and Road Film Tour; therefore, he contacted SIFF through the local embassy in China to express the desire to join the alliance.

Henry Laguado, Director of Bogotá Film Festival

At the 38th Bogotá Film Festival in 2021

Henry Laguado, Director of Bogotá Film Festival

Photo: Juan Carlos Sierra

The main poster of the 38th Bogotá Film Festival in 2021

FESPACO is held every two years in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and is one of the most important film festivals in Africa. Mr. Alex Moussa Sawadogo, the general representative, said at the conference that he hoped to show more Chinese films during FESPACO, and hoped that through the unique platform of the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance, excellent films and filmmakers from Africa could be made known to film fans and industry professionals in China and from other film festivals in the world to promote international film culture and talent exchanges.

Mr. Alex Moussa Sawadogo, general representative of FESPACO

It is understood that on the eve of the 27th FESPACO in 2021, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee of Communist Party of China and Shanghai Municipal People's Government and the Foreign Affairs Office donated to the organizer of FESPACO through the Chinese Embassy in Burkina Faso, a batch of projection equipment to support the holding of FESPACO. By joining the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance, FESPACO will lay a solid foundation for actively promoting the establishment of communication channels between the film industries of China and Burkina Faso, enhancing cultural exchanges and exploring opportunities for cooperation.

Opening Ceremony of the 27th FESPACO in 2021

By joining the two film festivals, the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance has gathered 55 film festivals and film institutions in 46 countries. (For the list of all members, please click "Read the original text" at the end of the article.) Since the "Silk Road" screening unit was set up in 2015, SIFF has actively responded to the Belt and Road Initiative by innovating and upgrading every year and being dedicated to international film culture display, promotion and communication. In the future, it will further enrich and deepen exchanges and cooperation and mutual learning between filmmakers from countries along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative, and strive to promote resource sharing and joint development of film industries in various countries.