2018 Shanghai International Film and Television Festival Holds Press Conference in Beijing

On the afternoon of May 24, the 2018 Shanghai International Film and Television Festival held a press conference in Beijing. For years, the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) and the Shanghai Television Festival (STVF) were both organized by the former State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. Due to the adjustment in state institutions, this year the organizers of the two festivals are also changed. For SIFF, the hosts are the State Administration of Film, the China Media Group, and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government; for STVF, the hosts are: the State Administration of Radio and TV, the China Media Group, and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.

At the press conference, relevant leaders of the organizers introduced the two festivals and their preparatory progress, and announced the international jury for the Golden Goblet Awards of SIFF, and the TV drama nominees for the Magnolia Awards of STVF. The 24th edition of Shanghai TV Festival is scheduled from June 11 to 15, while the 21st edition of Shanghai International Film Festival from June 16 to 25.

Golden Goblet Awards Jury and Magnolia Awards Nominees Unveiled

The 21st Shanghai International Film Festival has received a total of 3,447 submissions from 108 countries and regions. The selection of films for competition and panorama is proceeding in an orderly manner. At the press conference, the International Jury for Golden Goblet Awards at the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival was announced. The Chinese director and actor JIANG Wen will chair the Jury for Main Competition – Fiction, which also includes CHANG Chen (Actor, Taiwan, China), Ildikó ENYEDI (Director, Screenwriter, Hungary), Semih KAPLANOĞLU (Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Turkey), Naomi KAWASE (Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Actress, Japan), David PERMUT (Producer, USA), and QIN Hailu (Actress, Screenwriter, Producer, China) as juries. The Jury for Documentary Competition is chaired by Pirjo HONKASALO, the director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer from Finland, with Israeli documentary director Yoav SHAMIR and Chinese documentary director WU Wenguang serving as jury members. The Jury for Animation Competition is formed up with the French director Jacques-Rémy GIRERD as president, and juries – the Japanese director and screenwriter Sunao KATABUCHI, and the Chinese scholar and director SUN Lijun. This June the 13 prestigious film figures will gather in Shanghai for the final selection of Golden Goblet Awards.

After three rounds of review by professional selectors, the shortlist of Best TV Drama (China) of Magnolia Awards at the 24th Shanghai TV Festival is finalized. 10 works: WHITE DEER PLAIN, THE ADVISORS ALLIANCE, PEACE HOTEL, ER DOCTORS, NIRVANA IN FIRE 2, WONDERFUL LIFE, NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY, THE LOVE OF COURTYARD, A SPLENDID LIFE IN BEIJING and THE FIRST HALF OF MY LIFE have entered the final competition (see Annex for details). During the Shanghai TV Festival, the Jury for the Magnolia Awards – TV Drama chaired by LIU Heping, playwright and Chinese national class-A screenwriter; Documentary Jury led by British director Nick FRASER; and Animation Jury led by UK animation producer Kay BENBOW will select the final winners in Shanghai, who will be announced at the closing ceremony of STVF on the evening of June 15.

As the core programs of SIFF and STVF, the Golden Goblet Awards and the Magnolia Awards are not only to select and recognize excellent film and TV works of the year at home and abroad, but also to inspire film and television workers, especially Chinese practitioners to improve creation quality, thus meeting the mental needs of the masses, and introducing works that tell Chinese stories and show Chinese spirit to the world stage.

Embracing Chinese Film & TV Development and Shanghai Cultural Construction

For the past four decades since the Reform and Opening-up, especially since 2012, the film and television industry in China has undergone tremendous changes. In recent years, Shanghai has successively issued a series of policies to support and promote the development of the field, and put forward the goal and task of building Shanghai into a global film and television creation & production center and a cultural metropolis. After the 19th CPC National Congress, Shanghai issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Innovation and Development of the Cultural and Creative Industry in Shanghai, and recently published a three-year action plan for building up the brand of “Shanghai Culture”. Embracing the Chinese film and television development and Shanghai’s cultural construction, the two festivals aspire to benchmark with world-class counterparts at the beginning of the new era, focus on the cultural needs of the public, and follow the Chinese film and television development trend, and improve the right to speak across the world, propelling China from a big movie and television nation to a powerful one.

The Shanghai International Film and Television Festival features a lot of highlights this year. The 21st Shanghai International Film Festival, following the motif of “new start, new journey”, has set up the “Belt and Road” Movie Week, and built up a new platform for cultural exchanges consisting of movie screenings, roundtable forums, cultural tours, movie galas and other programs, working to bridge between people and looking forward to new era and new cooperation. On the first day of SIFF, representatives of nearly 30 film festivals including Cairo International Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, and Malaysian International Film Festival will also come to Shanghai to officially form up the “Belt and Road” Film Festival Alliance, and issue an Alliance manifesto. At that time, the signatories of the Alliance will establish an information sharing mechanism, where they could mutually recommend films for screening, recommend filmmakers to serve as jury members and guests to masterclasses and forums, and promote film co-production, learning from each other and seeking common development in exchange and partnership.

Year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the Reform and Opening-up and the 60th birthday of Chinese TV dramas. Centering on the remarkable film works produced after the Reform and Opening-up, especially after the 18th CPC National Congress, the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival has specially prepared the “Everlasting Pictures – Movie Poster Exhibition of the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening-up” to manifest the spirit of Chinese filmmakers and great achievements of Chinese cinema; and has planned and organized the panorama program titled “Four Decades of Light and Shadow” to play the excellent films that reflect the flourishing and thriving society during the past 40 years of Reform and Opening-up, bringing viewers to relive the memory of light and shadow in diverse forms.

During the Shanghai TV Festival, special events to commemorate the 60th birthday of Chinese TV dramas will take place, including two major programs – the “Symposium on the 60th Birthday of Chinese TV Dramas”, and the “Keep Pace with the Times – Ceremony of 60th Birthday of Chinese TV Dramas”. One the occasion, the representatives of TV organizations and industries, TV drama directors, performers, and producers will assemble together to look back upon the evolution and brilliant accomplishments of Chinese TV series over the last 60 years, particularly since the launch of the Reform and Opening-up, to pay tribute to outstanding Chinese TV drama workers, and to inspire them to stay true to mission and keep moving on.

Bountiful Forums and Panoramas Gearing up

Since the Reform and Opening-up forty years ago, the film and television cause in China have gone through radical changes. Especially since the 18th CPC National Congress, it has been catching the attention of the world with remarkable achievements. As important cultural brands in China, the Shanghai International Film Festival and the Shanghai Television Festival, by innovating festival mechanism, improving festival vision, and raising festival level, have articulated the principle of professionalism, internationalism, and benevolence, and the orientation of “people-centered”, determined to add brand values with unremitting efforts.