2012-05-19

SIFF’s Promotion Campaign in Berlin with Exciting News released

On the February 12th, the Shanghai International Film Festival held its promotional reception in Berlin for its 4th consecutive year. The reception was attended by nearly 300 industry professionals including famous Danish director Bille August, Cinecitta’s president Roberto Cicutto and renowned Chinese filmmaker Jiang Zhiqiang. Zhou Dongyu and Dou xiao, the leading actress and actor of Zhang Yimou’s The Love of the Hawthorn Tree, also came to the reception.

China’s Film Market Amazed the World

SIFF Is Highly Recognized throughout the World
As one of the most important links in the industry chain, the Shanghai International Film Festival continues to boom, featuring films from China’s fast developing film industry, not to mention the the globalfilm industry. 2327 films from 81 countries and regions applied for consideration for the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival. The 344 films that were selected attracted about 260,000 moviegoers. Those films came from 115 film agencies in 23 countries and regions,while 219 projects from 19 countries and regions signed up for the China Film Pitch and Catch as well as Co-production Film Pitch and Catch. 35 projects reached intentions. SIFFORUM held 9 seminars during which 68 industry titans sharing their cutting-edge insights. In all, 1535 journalists from 456 media from worldwide covered last year’s festival. These figures prove that the Shanghai International Film Festival remains the most influential and promising film event in the Asia-Pacific region.

Cinematic Masters Support the New Talent
The Shanghai International Film Festival has been working on New Talent cultivation and world collaboration through programs including China Film and Catch and its Asian New Talent Award. At the reception, Ms. Tang Lijun released SIFF’s BUDDING TALENT PLAN, which involves inviting the world’s top film directors to serve as artistic directors for young talents in their new projects. The first three masters to accept the invitation are Danish director Bille AUGUST and established Chinese directors John WOO and FENG Xiaogang. They will aid the young people in screenwriting and share their experiences, helping the young directors produce more inspiring films.

Ms. Tang explained:” with China’s box office having soared over the 10 billion dollar mark, we realized the necessity and urgency of cultivating young talent, because the future of China’s film depends on these geniuses. Only when the young people are learning to produce films can China’s film industry go from a developing stage to being developed. The Shanghai International Film Festival has the responsibility to promote the industry development.”

Bille AUGUST made a special trip to the SIFF reception. He claimed that the Shanghai International Film Festival has developed so fast that it has been one the most important film festivals in the world. I’m happy to join the BUDDING TALENT PLAN and be an artistic director. It will give me more opportunities to communicate with Chinese filmmakers. I hope to help the young filmmakers, and I believe China will soon lead Asia in producing films.

SIFF’s Latest Efforts on New Media Shorts

SIFF’s BEST Feature Film for Theatric Release
Another highlight of the SIFF reception was KISS ME AGAIN, the best feature film of SIFF 2010, which will be released in theaters on March 4. This is the first time that SIFF’s winning film will be released after the festival in cinemas. Directed by Gabriele Muccino the film is the sequel to his classic work THE LAST KISS in 2001. KISS ME AGAIN explains the Italian understanding of love, affection and friendship. It was very popular during its time at SIFF 2010. TANG Lijun said” The Shanghai International Film Festival is always looking for films valuing in both commercial and art. We expect to find more good films through the festival to present to audiences. The release of KISS ME AGAIN explains well the role of SIFF.”

Roberto Cicutto, president of CINECITTA, expressed his thoughts during the reception: “The Shanghai International Film Festival is the best platform for China and Italy. Italian Film has a very deep relationship with China’s film industry, and the theatric release of KISS ME AGAIN means a great deal to both sides. I hope there will be more Italian films to be released in China and that the two countries can collaborate more in movie production or other fields.”
The coming SIFF will not only focus on developing the Golden Goblet Award and Asia New Talent Award but also employ a new mobile distribution channel with a brand new section called MOBILE SIFF. It aims at inspiring young directors and engages the passion for innovation among the grassroots. MOBILE SIFF developed from SIFF’s International Student Shorts Award, which is part of SIFF’s series efforts to provide the young people a chance to realize their filmmaking dreams. With the increasing use of mobile technology, MOBILE SIFF will employ it to attract young film fanatics.The year 2010 was amazing for China’s Film Market, according toMadam Tang Lijun, SIFF’s managing director. Nearly every important record in the history of China’s film industry was broken. Over 500 feature films were produced, which made China the 3rd largest movie producer in the world. Its box office revenue increased an incredible 60 percent to exceed 10 billion RMB. Over 60 films earned more than 10 million at the box office, among which 17 joined the 100-million-club. AFTERSHOCK by FENG Xiaogang broke China’s record with staggering 665 million. These figures inspired the film industry and presented the world with a most energetic and promising market.