Overview of 18th Shanghai International Film Festival Preparation

The 18th Shanghai International Film Festival will be held from June 13 to 21, 2015. On May 27, the Organizing Committee has released the progress of preparation for various events of the film festival this year.

Overview:

As Chinese film industry prospers and Shanghai cultural industry evolves, the film festival continues its foothold on themes around “Asia, Chinese, New Talent”. Shouldering cultural heritage, it promotes a diverse cultural exchange and market structure while consistently supports new talents in the film industry, where it has made further progress in its professionalism, authority, creativity and influence.

The film festival has received 2,096 films from 108 countries this year, creating another historical record again. Many outstanding films have entered the competition. Among the 9 films entered the first round of Golden Goblet Award nomination, there is Sunstroke, a new work from Nikita Mikhalkov, the great Russian director; there is also Salut D\'amour, new work by renowned Korean director Kang Je-kyu, and Where the Wind Settles, new work by the Taiwanese director Wang Tung. 15 films were nominated for the Asian New Talent Award, including a new wave of films setting the trend in Asia such as Teenage Babylon, End of Winter and13.

This year, film festival will further encourage film production and investment partnership, as well as upgrade the judging process of Asian New Talent Award and Golden Goblet Award, supporting and generating new vitality in Asian film industry.

In order to let more people enjoy the film festival, the screening theaters will be expanded into 45 locations from the 35 locations last year, covering 17 districts around the metropolis with 1,200 film screens. In addition, two special events, Internet Film Carnival and Jackie Chan Action Movie Week will be held this year as well.

On June 13, the Top Red Carpet in Asia will receive nearly 400 stars from home and abroad in the opening ceremony, including crews from Yang Gui Fei, The Monkey King 2 and History of Romantic Death. Top stars from home and abroad will also appear in the occasion, including Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Fan Bingbing, Yao Chen, Jackie Chan, Aaron Kwok, Leon Lai, Liu Ye and Eddie Peng.

In addition, the film festival will also provide guidance on concepts and explore the future of Internet films via its forum, where it serves the entire industry chain as well promotes the development and prosperity of Shanghai cultural industry.

Film Screening Exhibit Diverse Mainstream Values

The film screenings from Shanghai International Film Festival received many years of profound achievements. It exhibits a film festival atmosphere that differs from that of the Hollywood by spreading a diverse mainstream values.

During the exhibition this year, not only will the festival introduce popular films from Oscar, Cannes, Berlin and Venice such as The Theory of Everything, Birdman, Whiplash, Boyhood, Leviathan and Two Days, One Night, it has also planned on 70th Anniversary of WWII Victory, Silk Road and BRICS Focus. In addition, this year marks the 120th anniversary of the world cinema as well as the 110th of Chinese cinema. The festival will introduce a series of masterpieces throughout the history of film. The highly anticipated Tribute to Masters will display classic masterpieces including those from Jean-Luc Godard, Ken Takakura, Anna May Wong and Meng Xia.

Forum Builds Industry Discussion Platform

The Film Festival Forum has invited industry experts to discuss topics such as artistic creativity, industry structure, film finance, Internet concept and market improvement. By crossing and integrating different facets of industry, it extends these concepts, exhibiting the industry creativeness, acumen and prospective outlook. The forum will gather all phases of the industry chain with the following topics: China film policy dialogue, China film industry development, Internet literature & drama script & new screenwriter talent, Chinese and overseas film education experience exchange, new director & new strength, Sino-South Korea co-production in Shanghai model, Sino-foreign co-productions in Shanghai, Internet giants marry film industry, Shanghai Internet Film Summit, Sino-foreign action films, China film marketing.

2014 Shanghai Film Support Policy Released

In October, 2014, Shanghai Municipal Government released Policies on Promoting the Development of Shanghai Film, where it supports 7 facets of the film industry chain including financing, taxation, land planning, education and joint-district support. In light of the seven supports, all indexes of Shanghai film industry grew significantly. In terms of production, there was a significant increase in the numbers of film companies, archives and productions. In terms of marketing, there was an increase of box office number, viewers, screenings, and cinemas. In addition, a group of outstand companies settled in Shanghai; a group of film talents returned to Shanghai; a set of excellent films are settling in Shanghai. In this year’s film festival forum, we will create a dialogue platform for filmmakers and Chinese film policymakers based on the effectiveness and challenges of government policies on filmmaking.

Create a Platform of Dreams

This year, SIFF Project has received 290 projects from 15 countries and regions. After filmmakers from China Film Group, Emperor Entertainment and X stream’s careful selections, 35 outstanding films were nominated. Among which, 10 films have entered the Youth Film Plan and 8 films were co-productions.

Since the establishment of SIFF Project 8 years ago, it has promoted and assisted the completion and screening of 24 projects, including outstanding projects such as The Piano in a Factory, Black Coal, Thin Ice and 12 Citizens. It has also introduced outstanding directors such as Diao Yinan, Quan Ling, Zhang Meng and Xu Ang into the world. Among which, Scrape My Bone was also nominated for Asian New Talent Award this year.

This year marks the upgrade of film venture partnership. Besides traditional film companies such as Bona, Enlight and Emperor, the festival has also attracted fund and venture capital firms such as Sova Capital, DT Capital and LeBox Capital. Together they provide efficient and quality capital for the outstanding films, accelerating project and young filmmakers\' growth. Besides, the venture platform also has nominated many co-productions this year, including Sino-Korean, Sino-Indian and Sino-Canadian and Sino-Singapore films. The forum will also announce the settlement of a Sino-Korean project in Shanghai.

Comprehensive Judging Structure

Many outstanding films have entered the competition this year. Among the 9 films entered the first round of Golden Goblet Award nomination, there is Sunstroke, a new work from Nikita Mikhalkov, the great Russian director; there is also Salut D\'amour, new work by renowned Korean director Kang Je-kyu, and Where the Wind Settles, new work by the Taiwanese director Wang Tung. These films will take the festival award competition to a new level.

This year\'s Golden Goblet Award Jury President is Andrey Zvyagintsev, where he will be working with Chinese director Cai Shangjun, Chinese actress Hao Lei, Hong Kong producer Shi Nan-Sun, Korean Screenwriter Hui-jae, French director Felipe Maitreya and American producer Ron Yerxa. The seven experts with in-depth experience in the film arena will uplift the authority and influence of the festival.

15 films, including those from China, Korea, Iran, Indian and Japan were nominated for Asian New Talent Award, presenting a diverse culture from the world. The President of the Asian New Talent Award Jury is the Korean director Han-Min Kim. Jury Panel includes Taiwanese director Yi Zhiyan, French producer Nicholas Robert, Malaysian actress Angelica Lee, and Chinese actor Huang Xuan.

Since 2004, Asian New Talent Award has emboldened a number of new filmmakers in Asia. Many young directors, such as Chinese mainland directors Ning Hao, Wanma Caidan, Gao Qunshu, Taiwanese director Tom Lin, Iran director Yektapanah and Indonesian filmmaker Bhawani were made known to the world by Asian New Talent Award, where they continued to create their path to success.

In order to provide a broader platform for the new talents, Organizing Committee has also provided Award Nomination Banquet and Asian New Talent Award Ceremony in effort to provide the new Asian film talents more exposure in the industry, giving them a chance to converse with the industry and exchange resources.

Shanghai to Become Home of Internet Literature and Screenwriter

After Shanghai University joined Vancouver Film School to create Shanghai-Vancouver Film School last year, in order to train post-production filmmakers in China, Shanghai University of Science and Technology will work together to USC School of Cinematic Arts to create a screenwriter training class this year. The class is aimed to produce screenwriters for the Chinese film industry. Besides, during the forum this year, the most popular Chinese post 80s and post 90s screenwriters will also write for Shanghai Films, creating a school of Shanghai-style films. Four renowned screenwriter workshop, Wang Liping, Liu Heping, Li Yang and Gao Mantang, will also announce their decision to settle in Shanghai during the festival.

Internet Companies Entering Shanghai Film Industry

Sensing an industry upheaval during the Internet age, Shanghai International Film Festival will host the first Internet Film Carnival, inviting Internet and traditional industry to get together and exchange with each other. Using opportunity and platform, a series of Internet film companies will also announce their layout in Shanghai. These plans include settling in Shanghai. This year, both Youku and Tutou have founded bases in Shanghai. Besides, the film festival will officially join Alibaba to provide services for the forum, venture capital, online ticketing, and fans meet-and-greet, assisting industry exploration, helping new talents reaching their dreams, and providing services for the fans.

Follow-up Projects Released during Film Festival 2014

Last year, a group of companies and filmmakers have announced their plans in Shanghai during the Shanghai International Film Festival. After a year, they have made significant progress, among which: Shanghai-Vancouver Film School participated in the science fiction production 2054, Huanshangda Film Industry Base built quality post-production base, US financial guarantee company settled in the Free Trade Area; Leading Digital Post founded; China Internet Microfilm Center founded; the Verse of Us, documentary film announced during the festival last year will debut soon. Besides, the public critics selected from the writing contest held during the film festival last year became the public film judges this year as promised.

Build Service Platform for Production, Service & Living

This year, Shanghai International Film Festival will provide a series of new professional and humanitarian measures to provide production services based on the industry chain and life services based on audience and their consumption habits.

In terms of production services, Shanghai International Film Festival will come out a series of innovative measures, to meet the cultural pursuit of filmmakers by providing professional and humanitarian services via the upgraded Golden Goblet Award and Asian New Talent Award, new film market, upgraded venture capital, forum discussion platform, red carpet, news release platform and Jackie Chan Action Movie Week.

In terms of life services, film festival will provide audiences a talent platform and participation opportunities via citizens’ critic writing contest, community film festival, outdoor film screening, audience meet-and-greet and film concert. Meanwhile, Organizing Committee introduces professional subtitle translation team and standardized screening in order to ensure the screening quality. It introduces Taobao professional film platform, improve and provide convenient online-offline ticket purchasing experience.

From production service based on the industry chain and life service based on the audience, Shanghai International Film Festival not only committed to providing a platform for Chinese and overseas cultural exchange, it also gathers all elements of the industry, provides services to the general public, thereby promoting development and prosperity of Shanghai and Chinese film industry.