Largest Asian Panorama Diversified Platform for Cultural Exchange
The 15th SIFF Organizing Committee held an awards ceremony for the 28 assigned star cinemas for Panorama on May 28. Ticket sales will start across the board with the publication of schedules in early June.
SIFF Panorama is the largest and most diversified screening in Asia. Every year SIFF screens hundreds of films from different countries and regions. This year audiences will enjoy the strongest lineup, the highest quality, and richest content since 1993 when the first SIFF was first held. In addition to the Golden Goblet and Asian New Talent awards, this year’s SIFF will include the Opening Film, Closing Film, Tribute to Masters, SIFF Highlights, Focus China, Classics Revisited, Spectrum, Touch 3D, Global Village, MIDA Documentary, Film Talks, Short Panorama and other sections, gathering hundreds of new excellent films from home and abroad.
This year 28 cinemas have been named “SIFF assigned screening cinemas”, covering most of downtown Shanghai. Assigned cinemas will sell tickets on the Shanghai East Tickets online system. Hot cinema (One-Ticket-Pass) and Gewara are the two assigned ticket agents. Viewers can buy tickets for any session displayed in any cinema in every assigned cinema. Besides, they can buy tickets by telephone, mobile phone or online, using One-Ticket-Pass or Gewara. And the ticket prices ranging from 40 to 60 RMB gives viewers real benefits.
Tribute to Masters
As the golden section in Panorama, Tribute to Masters this year will be especially exciting. It includes Yigong Wu’s personal panorama, Che Zhang’s Chinese sword play movies, Forth special presentation----Pertinent Elizabeth Tayor, retrospective of Theo Angelopoulos, the 80th anniversary birth of Francois Truffut and other screening sections.
Yigong Wu and other film artists initiated SIFF in 1993. During the 15th SIFF, audiences will re- experience the poetic images and style of Yigong Wu’s works My Memories of Old Beijing，A Confucius Family，Evening Rain, classics of the fourth generation film leader.
This year is the 10th anniversary of Che Zhang’s death. The Organizing Committee has arranged a panorama of Che Zhang’s Chinese swordplay movies. His six classics Great Shanghai 1937, New One-armed Swordsman, Five Deadly Venoms, Blood Brothers, The Golden Swallow, and Boxer From Shantung will be screened.
This year is also the 80th anniversary of the birth of Francois Truffut, the standard bearer of French New Wave. In order to honor this master, his six classics Jules and Jim, The 400 Blows, Confidentially Yours, The Woman Next Door，Love on the Run, and The Last Metro will be screened in Panorama.
The Greek film giant Theo Angelopoulos’s death shocked the film world. During the 15th SIFF, an introspective of his works will be held, screening his four films Landscape in the Mist, Taxidi Sta Kithira, Days of 36, and The Suspended Step of The Stork.
In addition, the Organizing Committee also arranged a retrospective of Elizabeth Taylor, the famous Hollywood actress. Cleopatra, The Blue Bird and The Only Game in Town will be screened to honor the legendary beauty.
As a fixed section in SIFF, a panorama of the Jury President’s films will also be held, including screenings of The Name of the Rose, and The Bear from Jean Jacques Annaud,.
Official Recommendation
The official recommendation part includes the films recommended by the organizing committee to the audiences and debut films, all of which are finest ones in content, shooting and theme. This year’s official recommendation boasts various hit films, including, Arirang, a winner at the Cannes Film Festival, is the first film by Korean director Ki-duk Kim.
Other outstanding films include Oscar winning movies, such as Midnight in Paris directed by Woody Allen. Other films on offer include A Trip to the Moon, by movie pioneer Georges Méliès. A documentary about Georges Méliès and the film will also be shown. Beside them, Ichimei, a 3D film by the famous Japanese director Takashi Miike, Anton Corbijn Inside Out by Anton Corbijn and As Luck Would Have It by Alex de la Iglesia will also be shown.
Global Village
This year’s Global Village part will continue holding nation-level activities on film shooting, including not only films from Germany, Italy, France, Canada, Japan and Thailand, but also those from Britain, Brazil, Iran, Turkey and many African countries. They have brought some films to show, and filmmakers who will meet with audience members. In particular, the Italian film participating in this year, Caesar Must Die, has won the Golden Bear Award at the 62nd Berlin Film Festival. While in Thai film panorama, Aff and Son, famous film stars, will meet the audience.
In addition, the newly-added British film panorama is going to give the Global Village a touch of the British style, including many British films such as Wuthering Heights, Senna, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Fish Bowl, Another Year, and Nowhere Boy. African films from Gabon, Kenya, Algeria and Egypt have filled the first African panorama with rich African style.
Focus China
The part of Focus China is going to present the latest and finest Chinese films, showing to the world the new development of Chinese films and promoting them to the whole world. In this year, Focus China has three parts: new Chinese film panorama, Chinese films with the most attention and the CCTV-6 Media Award.
More than 30 Chinese films will be put on screen in the new Chinese film panorama, and the CCTV-6 Media Award, jointly hosted by the film festival and CCTV-6, will select 10 of them to be shortlisted.
Touch 3D
“Touch 3D” is new unit in this year’s SIFF in which many 3D films from America, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Thailand, South Korea and other countries are to be screened. These films are of different styles and of varying types, highlighting the fresh visual experience brought about by the great developments appearing in film technology and representing the 3D technology dynamics in the film industry. This year, this unit is scheduled to screen: Lion King 3D (US animation), Beauty and Beast 3D (US animation), Legends of Valhalla: Thor 3D (Germany/Iceland/Ireland), TT3D: Closer to The Edge (UK documentary), Dark Flight 3D (Thailand feature film), One Way Trip 3D (Switzerland/Austria), The Host 3D (Korea), among others.
Multi-perspective
“Multi-perspective” centers on pluralistic culture and is to screen good films from around the world with a view to fully presenting and creating an interactive platform for pluralistic cultures and to exhibit the latest development in the global film industry. Three are documentaries, animation, and feature films to be screened including Despicable Me, My Week With Marilyn, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Untouchable, Love Fiction, No Rest For The Wicked, and Last Winter, among others.
MIDA Documentary
“MIDA Documentary” has won high praise form audiences. This year, there are 20 documentaries to be screened during the SIFF, including Hometown Boy, Shoji & Takao, First Position, The Eyes of War and many others. As the biggest and highest-level documentary event in Asia, MIDA Documentary has attracted good documentaries recommended by the 5 biggest global documentary film festivals.
Classics Rescreening
Co-promoted by SIFF and Jaeger Le-Coultre, “Classics Rescreening” is to rescreen the repaired classic including Crossroads, The Spring River Flows East, Eight Thousand Li of Cloud And Moon. These rarest events initiated by international film festival with the assistance of Chinese and foreign professional repairing institutions not only fully manifest the SIFF’s responsibility as the cultural height but also allows more people to enjoy classic Chinese films
Short Film Screening
Three are sure to be many highlights in this year’s short film screening in which creative short films from 14 countries including comedy, documentary, thriller and animations. In particular, more than 30 short films including Middle-aged Adventuies: Out of Breath by Chinese director Huang Lei are also arranged to be screened, and they are to compete for 10 awards like Best Short Film, Best Director, Best Originality, Best Plot, Best Comedy, Best Animation, Best Actions, Best Picture, Best Documentary, Best public short films and Spectator Award. In addition, 6 Internet Micro Films competing for 2012 “Best Annual Internet Micro Short Film”, 4 public films directed by 4 female directors Gigi Leung, Huang Yi, Tian Yuan and Jin Yimeng themed on “Growth, Gratefulness, Sympathy and Beauty” co-sponsored by SIFF and “China Beauty Charity Fund” and “Love Shanghai – Micro Films” are all to be screened.
Attachment:
List of “SIFF Designated Cinemas” (Random Order)
Shanghai Film Art Center
Ever Shining Circuit
Jiading Cinema
Hubei Cinema
Xinhengshan Cinema
Quyang Cinema
Caoyang Cinema
Heping Cinema
Studiocity
Yonghua Cinema
UME Xintiandi Cinema
Century Friendship Cinema
Xingguang Cinema
Xinnzhuang Internaitonal Cinema
Mediterranean Cinema
Shanghai Film Xinzhuang Cinema
Xingmei Zhengda Cinema
17.5 Shanghai Youyicheng Cinema
Super Film World
Shanghai Wanda International Cinema
Guotai Cinema
Jinyi Cinema (Hongkou Plaza)
Shanhai Cinema Palace
New Century Cinema
Himalaya Oversea International Cinema
Longzhimeng Cinema
Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism
