Mobile SIFF Starts June 15;Hua-tao Teng is Jury President

It will be held at Shanghai Commercial and Exhibition Center in Putuo District, the SIFF Organizing Committee announced on June 3.

The mobile festival is being staged this year with the support of Shanghai Ciwen Information and Technology company, China Mobile and the local government of Shanghai\'s Putuo District.

The jury will also include Wang Jingchun, a famous Chinese actor who won a Best Actor award at Tokyo International Film Festival, and Darcy Paquet, a famous Korean film critic.

Worldwide Short Film Entries

This year\'s Mobile SIFF has attracted 1,951 micro movie entries from 85 countries and regions, 74 percent of which are from overseas. The submissions attest to the festival section\'s increasing popularity, showing different cultures and telling various fantasies and stories.

Fifteen short story films, five animations, and five short documentaries have made it to the awards\' shortlist. Final results will be announced in Putuo District on June 19.

SIFF\'s full support for the burgeoning micro movie sector is reflected in its choice of senior film industry members as jury members, such as Tsui Hark, Hua-Tao Teng and Zhang Yuan. Mobile SIFF has its own Blue Carpet Ceremony which has gained support from film celebrities every year.

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch has spoken highly in the past about Mobile SIFF: "Without better films, TV shows and programs to enrich the new media, this expensive equipment will be nothing but toys to us.”

Multi Platform Opportunities

Mobile SIFF, by virtue of the international influence and platforms provided by Shanghai International Film Festival, offers the best opportunity for creative talents to enter the film industry. It combines the art of film and latest communication technology in an effort to explore new media distribution channels. It endeavors to build a film festival that is fashionable, fresh and artistic.

SIFF will continue to work this year with China Mobile in video production activity. It will also collaborate for the first time with the short-video Nine-minute Micro-film Contest. The shortlisted competitors for Mobile SIFF in China will be recommended to this platform for short film production.

During Mobile SIFF, there also will be a themed event in Putuo District titled Integration·Innovation·Development - Movie Forum in an Internet Era. Alibaba Group vice-president Gao Hongbing has been invited to deliver a keynote speech on the development trends for China\'s contemporary Internet movies. Putuo District People\'s Government also will hold a series of activities in the newly-built Shanghai Convention & Exhibition Center of International Sourcing. They will include China Shanghai International Film Technology Exhibition, inauguration of the Microsoft Game Innovation Center and a demonstration of digital industry progress in new media. The major aim is to encourage the development of upstream and downstream new media industries. It is also to explore new ways of integrating technology and culture, such as Internet drama production, mobile games, mobile advertising, and mobile education, in the hope of building Putuo into a new media digital industry base.

Diverse Screenings

The International Student Shorts Award will continue to be jointly held by Mobile SIFF and Shanghai University\'s School of Film & TV Arts. Short videos from college students at home and abroad will be assessed and shown during Mobile SIFF. The 25 videos shortlisted for the award, as well as six selected for Best Micro Film of the Year, will be screened during the festival in the most prominent movie theatres in Shanghai. So far the theaters include Old Grand Theatre, Huxi Cinema, CaoYang Cinema and the Shanghai Film and Television Document Library auditorium.

In addition to cinema screenings, the director of Mobile SIFF Wang Xiaozhao announced the works, with contestants’ approval, will be screened on the phones of China Mobile\'s customers through to July 31. "With the work on line, the artistic level of the director is tested and the market response is reflected," Mr. Wang said. "This will serve as a direct reference for the creator.” As well as cinemas and mobile phones, the Mobile SIFF will this year establish an online screening platform on Youku, further enhancing the movies\' exposure.

As a result of all this development, Mobile SIFF has opened up a new media channel for the film industry on top of its fostering of the broader industry and new talents. Mobile SIFF showcases to the film industry a new channel with a user group of one billion by virtue of its international significance in the film industry and the channels of mobile phone operators, represented by China Mobile. With the interchange of traditional and new media as well as the link between wireless Internet and cable Internet, Mobile SIFF is transforming into a large platform boosting omnimedia, integrating creative ideas and enhancing production and distribution.