Belt and Road Film Tour | Wuhai presented by Shanghai shortlisted for international film festivals i

Recently, Wuhai, recommended by the Shanghai International Film Festival, has been shortlisted for the main competition units of the 25th Sofia International Film Festival in Bulgaria and the 4th Nepal International Film Festival. As another “produced in Shanghai” film, Wuhai made its public debut at the SIFF’s Chinese Film Night last year and was soon shortlisted for the 68th San Sebastian International Film Festival and won at the FIPRESCI Prizes.

Wuhai is Zhou Ziqi’s second feature film, starring Huang Xuan and Yang Zishan and produced by Shanghai Ziyang Culture and Media Studio. The film tells the story of a young couple who loved each other and hated and entangled each other because of the escalation of contradictions. “The creation of Wuhai is inspired by the stories of my friends.” Zhou Ziyi said that he hopes to reflect some social phenomena and questions about reality, morality and desire.

Zhou Ziyi won multiple awards such as the Special Nomination for the Asian Future Unit of the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival and the Young Director of the Year at the 9th China Film Directors Guild for his first feature film Old Beast. Last year, Zhou Ziyang was also a judge for the short film unit of the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival. After Wuhai got in major film festivals, Zhou Ziyang gradually became one of the highly anticipated young Chinese directors.

Shot of Wuhai

In recent years, Shanghai has continuously increased its support for the film industry, bringing together a large number of outstanding film talents and quality works. “Produced in Shanghai” has become a hotspot in domestic and foreign film festivals. At the same time, more and more outstanding domestic films are “going out” through the Belt and Road Film Week of SIFF to spread Chinese culture and tell good Chinese stories internationally.

The Sofia International Film Festival and the Nepal International Film Festival are the first members of the Belt and Road Initiative Film Festival Alliance launched by the SIFF. Among them, the Sofia International Film Festival in Bulgaria is listed by Variety as one of the top 50 not-to-be-missed film events in the world.

25th Sofia International Film Festival

The 25th Sofia International Film Festival opened on Mar 11 of this month and will last until the March 31. The 4th Nepal International Film Festival will be held from May 6 to 10 this year.

4th Nepal International Film Festival

The Belt and Road Initiative Film Festival Alliance was founded during the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival in 2018, as well as the Belt and Road Film week. As of February 2021, the Belt and Road Initiative Film Festival Alliance has increased from 31 member institutions in 29 countries to 53 member institutions in 46 countries. Relying on the platform advantages of the Belt and Road Initiative Film Festival Alliance, the Shanghai International Film Festival has opened the Belt and Road Initiative Film Week mechanism, through film screenings, exhibitions and exhibitions, expand the Belt and Road Initiative film cultural exchange and cooperation of the Shanghai International Film Festival from the festival to the whole year.