SIFF Project Market Announces Nominees

□By Liza Li(Shanghai Daily)

The 18th Shanghai International Film Festival Project Market has announced the nominees. This year 35 projects from various genres and themes are selected.
 
The 10 works by the new generation of Chinese directors will debut in New Talent Project  and another 25 mature projects are offered opportunities to meet with film investors, producers and distributers.

Nominated New Talent projects include “The Bottom Line” by Pan Zhixin, “Free Vacation” by Angie Liu and Tom Xia and “Living for You” by Ding Pei among others.

The “New Talent Project” initiated last year is an important stage that recognizes new filmmaking talent in China. For directors who just started their careers, the project helps them by providing professional training, project diagnosis, public presentation and roundtable negotiations.

Director and producer Huang Jianxin will lead the jury panel of the New Talent Project along with jury members He Yunming and Xu Xiaoming.

Ronan Girre, chairman of the Europe Filmmaker Association and filmmakers Jiao Aimin, Han Xiaoling and Ye Rufen will host master classes and workshops for the nominated projects and give advice and guidance.

Together with over 20 top investors, the SIFF Project Market will help young talented people in Asian film and TV grow and provide them with new opportunities.

“Our goal is not to achieve the breakthrough in quantity, but to improve the success rate,” said Yang Lele, assistant general manager and marketing department director of the Shanghai International Film & TV Festival Co., Ltd.

The success refers to the project finding investors to get started. “The investors we have invited are strong and professional, they not only bring cash to the projects, but also improve the value and overall quality of the projects,” Yang said.

For all films in the SIFF Project Market, the experience and resources are providing more direct and long-term assistance than the prize money. The opportunity to meet buyers and get in touch with producers will help the filmmakers to launch the projects.

There have been some successful projects from past years that achieved high reputation in film festivals as well as great box office results, for instance Hello, Mr. Tree and The Piano in a Factory.

The SIFF Project Market also introduces co-productions including “Goodbye Calcutta” co-produced by China and India, “Variation in Crisis” and “2054” co-produced by China and Canada, “East of Eden” co-produced by China and New Zealand as well as “Five Star Billionaire” co-produced by China and Malaysia.

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The staffs of the “New Talent Project” are discussing. Pic by Wu Kai