2020-07-28

Curtain rises on the Belt and Road Film Week, with filmmakers Tu Men and Bai Baihe as ambassadors

On the afternoon of July 27, the Belt and Road Film Week of the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival kicked off. Promotional ambassadors Tu Men and Bai Baihe went to the Cinema Palace in Lujiazui Center, Pudong New Area, to meet their fans. The crew of the Chinese film Chaogtu with Sarula, the opening film, also shared the behind-the-scenes footage during filming on the scene. The atmosphere was warm and cordial.

At this year’s film festival, 56 countries along the Belt and Road Initiative submitted 1,782 films, of which outstanding ones were screened in the film festival cinemas. The Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance continues to be popular, with members growing from 29 countries and 31 institutions when it was established in 2018 to 44 countries and 50 institutions in July this year. Although filmmakers of the alliance could not come to Shanghai to participate in the Belt and Road Film Week as they did in previous years, they still actively submitted films. After selection, 17 films will be screened simultaneously in theaters, open air and offline in Pudong New Area. Among them, there are 12 films participating the open-air screenings of the film week, with a total of 73 screenings in 36 communities in Pudong New Area. The theme of the Belt and Road Film Week film screening is “Traveling with the film”, which aims at encouraging the audience to set their bodies and minds free in the movies, and to follow the film to fell the collision of cultures and the link between hearts during this special period.

The Belt and Road Film Week this year invited filmmakers Tu Men and Bai Baihe as promotional ambassadors, both of whom attended today’s Opening Film event. Ms. Bai Baihe said that this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival is the first film festival held online and offline since the outbreak of the pandemic. Under the theme of the film festival poster “Reunion”, filmmakers should not forget their original intentions and continue to make better films to give back to the audience. Mr. Tu Men emphasized that the crew of Chaogtu with Sarula is extraordinary. He does not play a major role in the movie, but he has fully realized that it’s an interesting film. To be screened during the Belt and Road Film Week is also particularly meaningful.

Attendees also included leaders from the Shanghai Pudong New Area Government, Propaganda Department of the Pudong New Area Committee, and the Shanghai International Tourism Resort, which are partners to jointly organize the Belt and Road Film Week for three consecutive years. Sun Yu, Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department of the Pudong New Area Committee and Deputy Director of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, introduced the activities of the Belt and Road Film Week in Pudong New Area, and said that on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the opening of Pudong New Area, they will make greater efforts to provide better service for filmmakers and movie audiences.