2018-06-16

Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance established in Shanghai, 31 institutions from 29 countries atte

This afternoon, the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival held the signing ceremony of the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance, where 31 film festival institution representatives from 29 countries gathered to sign the memorandum on the establishment of the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance. The member institutions of the Alliance will take films as a carrier to seek mutual learning and common development in exchanges and cooperation. Chinese government leaders including Deputy Director of CPC Publicity Department, President & CPC Secretary of China Media Group SHEN Haixiong, Member of Standing Committee of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Director of Publicity Department ZHOU Huilin, and Vice Mayor of Shanghai WENG Tiehui were present at the ceremony.

At the scene, YU Xiufen, Deputy Chairman of the Shanghai International Film Festival Organizing Committee and Director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film & TV, on behalf of the organizers, welcomed the guests from all over the world. 31 film festival institution representatives from 29 countries, showed up on the stage to sign the memorandum in turn. In accordance with the film culture exchange and cooperation alliance they’ve agreed upon, they are to set up an information sharing mechanism where they could, among other, submit films for panorama, recommend filmmakers as judges and guests for master classes and forums, and promote film co-production projects.

The Shanghai International Film Festival has been keenly responding to the Belt and Road initiative proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping by taking the lead in cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. SIFF launched the Silk Road panorama in 2015. In 2016, it set up “the Belt and Road” Series as a permanent program in international panorama. For two consecutive years, it has entered into cooperation mechanism and memoranda of cooperation with various countries. This year, the new Belt and Road Film Week becomes an innovative approach to exploring diversified forms of cooperation. With the inclusive mind, it keeps enhancing its connection and partnership with the film practitioners along the Belt and Road, which has received positive responses among the counterparts in the mentioned region and even the whole world. The mutual learning and proactive participation by all members on the medium of cinema reflects the good wishes of filmmakers to strengthen film cooperation and deepen cultural exchanges.

From the initial panorama establishment, to the conclusion of cooperation agreements, and the signing of memoranda, the Belt and Road theme is upgraded at each edition. This year, the Alliance indicates the substantial progress SIFF has made. FU Wenxia, Managing Director of the Shanghai International Film & TV Festival Center, said: “Those joining the Alliance are the top film festivals in each country. In the future, through film exhibition, jury member recommendation and film co-production, there will be more interactions among our members.” In the next few days, a series of Belt and Road themed activities organized by SIFF and the Pudong New Area, including Film Summit, Film Night and Panorama will allow the public to know about the culture of more countries and regions through films, and give more Chinese filmmakers a platform to develop and display their talents.

Attached: List of signatory representatives of the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance