Global Filmmakers Gather for Professional Exchange and Inheritance, Film Night Pushes Belt and Road

On the afternoon of June 20, the Belt and Road Film Summit took place at the Shendi Culture Center of Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone. Overseas film festival chairmen and art directors, as well as domestic well-known filmmakers and film company executives gathered to discuss and explore the cooperation and win-win path between Chinese and foreign film circles. WENG Zuliang, Member of Standing Committee of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Party Secretary of Pudong New Area, and ZHOU Huilin, Member of Standing Committee of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Director of Publicity Department attended the event. In the evening, the Belt and Road Film Night pushed the entire themed program to a climax.

Since its inception in 1993, Shanghai International Film Festival has adhered to constant innovation by seizing opportunities and undertaking missions. Particularly in recent years, it has been committed to the film culture display, exchange and cooperation among the countries along the Belt and Road, and has provided an important platform for the corresponding filmmakers to deepen understanding and cooperation. On the opening day of the 2018 Shanghai International Film Festival, 31 film festival institutions from 29 countries signed the Memorandum on the Establishment of the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance. This year, SIFF and Pudong New Area have also initiated the Belt and Road Film Week.

Based on “One Country, One Filmmaker, One Film Company, One Film, One Media”, the Belt and Road Film Week features Belt and Road Film Panorama, Belt and Road Film Summit, Belt and Road Film Night, etc. With the films produced by the countries along the Belt and Road screened in theaters across the city, the viewers were allowed to learn about the diverse culture from abroad. The Film Festival Alliance and the Film Week have received heated responses from Chinese and foreign filmmakers and institutions. In the past few days, the representatives of overseas film festivals and crew have had friendly talks with the public at theater fan meetings as well.

At the scene also announced the winners of the three awards featured in the Belt and Road Film Week – the Audience Choice Award, and the Media Choice Awards (for film & filmmaker), which were selected by professional filmmakers, spectators and the media. YANG Mingming (China) and Kamila ANDINI (Indonesia) won the Media Choice Award for Filmmaker for their works GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY and THE SEEN AND UNSEEN. The Media Choice Award for Film was won by Russian film ARRHYTHMIA and Italian film DAUGHTER OF MINE, while the Polish film SILENT NIGHT was honored the Audience Choice Award.

In the programme Tribute to Masters, filmmaker WU Jing paid homage to the artist TIAN Hua on behalf of the backbone force of Chinese films: “You have created many characters shining in the history of Chinese cinema. You are part of the shared memory of Chinese people in the past few decades. You go abroad to watch world movies and let the world see Chinese movies. You are a forerunner and outstanding representative in the globalization of Chinese films.”

As a Chinese film artist who has brought her works to the countries along the Belt and Road in early years, the 90-year-old TIAN Hua presented a precious gift on the stage – a perfume she received from a little girl more than 60 years ago when she followed the crew of THE WHITE-HAIRED GIRL to visit the former Soviet Union. That night, she solemnly handed the perfume to WU Jing. Taking over the gift that symbolizes the inheritance of Chinese films, WU Jing gave the watch he wore when he shot WOLF WARRIORS to TIAN Hua and said: “This is what I have inherited from you!”

At the end of the gala, the representatives of the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance appeared on the stage and released the Film Festival Alliance Manifesto together. The Manifesto is to facilitate the bilateral panorama of films; encourage the mutual recommendation of film festival judges and event guests; strengthen the exchanges and cooperation in film production and distribution; and establish and implement the film information sharing mechanism among contracted parties.