On April 4, the 21th Beijing International Film Festival kicked off. In the evening, more than 200 Chinese and foreign filmmakers and guests gathered at the Yanqi Lake International Conference Center. From senior directors such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Chen Kexin, to well-known actors such as Jackie Chan, Hui Yinghong, Zhang Ziyi... The opening ceremony was star-studded, and the following industry exchange activities were also colorful. Our reporter hit the scene directly, and in this spring, I went to the "covenant of light and shadow" with filmmakers and fans.
Hong Kong director Chan Kexin walked the red carpet. (Photo by Yin Limei)
"Long gone!" This Beijing Film Festival is full of "Hong Kong flavor"
From April 4 to 22, the 29th Beijing International Film Festival (hereinafter referred to as the Beijing Film Festival), directed by the National Film Administration and sponsored by the Central Radio and Television Station and the Beijing Municipal People's Government, was held in Beijing. The main competition unit "Temple of Heaven Award" awards, opening ceremony, Beijing screening, Beijing planning and theme forum, Beijing market, film carnival, college student film festival, closing ceremony and award ceremony, "film +" nine main plate activities have fully resumed offline holding. On the evening of the 21st, at the Yanqi Lake International Conference Center, more than 200 filmmakers and guests walked on the red carpet of the opening ceremony. In the bright starlight, many Hong Kong movie "familiar faces" appeared.
In the lineup of the "Temple of Heaven Award" jury that first appeared, in addition to the chairman of the jury, Zhang Yimou, actors Zhang Songwen and Zhou Dongyu, there was also Kwan Jinpeng, one of the standard-bearers of the Hong Kong film New Wave era. When going up the stairs, the scene of Zhang Songwen carefully supporting Guan Jinpeng attracted the attention of fans. Guan Jinpeng later posted on Weibo to explain that he suffered a knee injury, so he temporarily asked Zhang Songwen to "be my 'crutch'". After that, Guan Jinpeng appeared on the red carpet again as the director of the new film "Eight Women One Play". This new film is set in the Central City Hall in Hong Kong, starring Hong Kong actor Chiu Yazhi and mainland actors Bai Lily and Qi Xi.
On the red carpet, many emerging Hong Kong directors appeared with new works. For example, the suspense film "Origin Sin" directed by Shum Jiayan, which starred Yam Dahua and Wu Zhuoxi, is also the posthumous work of Hong Kong actor Zeng Jiang.
In addition, not long ago, at the 41st Academy Awards, Zheng Xiuwen won the "queen" trophy for the first time, and "On the Way to the Hospital" starring Koo Tianle, the directors of the two Hong Kong films Jia Shengfeng and Zhuo Yunzhi also led their main creators to appear on the red carpet.
Director Chen Kexin, as the chairman of the final judging committee of the venture capital project of this Beijing Film Festival, walked the red carpet alone. He was one of the first Hong Kong directors to participate in co-productions in the mainland 20 years ago, and an old friend of the Beijing Film Festival, participating in the first Beijing Film Festival in 2011.
After three years, the Beijing Film Festival "returns to spring" (Note: the 2020-2022 Beijing Film Festival will be held in August and September), and the "pool of spring water" of exchange and cooperation between Chinese-speaking filmmakers ripples again.
The main creator of the movie "One and Four" appeared on the red carpet, and Wan Ma Tseidan (fourth from left) is the producer. (Photo by Yin Limei)
Diverse genres, national films are no longer "unpopular"
The red carpet of the opening ceremony of this year's Beijing Film Festival also welcomed many national filmmakers, such as Wan Ma Caidan, chairman of the international jury of the "Focus on the Future" unit of this year's Beijing Film Festival. The Tibetan director's "Tharlo" and "Killed a Sheep" have broadened the narrative space for Tibetan films. This time, he appeared as the main creator of the new film "One and Four" as a producer, which is a "poaching unsolved case" that takes place on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, directed by Wanma Tsedan's son Jigme Seili, and the original author Jiang Yang Cairang and starring Jinba and Gengdan are all Tibetans.
In addition, "Little Pony Whip", which tells the story of Xinjiang juvenile horse racing, and the main creator of the crew of "Liangshan Black Hawks" adapted from the true story of the Yi national youth basketball team also walked the red carpet, adding a lot of bright colors to this year's Beijing Film Festival.
Xinjiang actor Gu Li Naza's new film "Legend" is directed by Hong Kong director Tang Jili and starring Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan. The film continues the style of the blockbuster "Mythology" starring Jackie Chan in 2005, and the film was shot in Xinjiang, showing the magnificent "scenery of the Western Regions". (Photo by Yin Limei)
【Film Power Industry Forum】
How do Chinese movies tell Chinese stories well?
On the morning of April 4, the opening forum of the 23th Beijing International Film Festival "Film Power Industry Forum - Telling Chinese Stories with Film Language" was held in Beijing Yanqi Lake International Convention and Exhibition Center. A number of Chinese and foreign filmmakers gathered together to discuss how to "tell Chinese stories in film language" and show Chinese culture to overseas audiences.
Fu Ruoqing, chairman of China Film Group Corporation (referred to as China Film Group), is the producer, director and chief producer of this year's "explosive" sci-fi film "The Wandering Earth 2". For example, he said that after the film landed in overseas theaters, the market response was unexpectedly good, and the overseas box office has exceeded 1 million yuan. Fu Ruoqing believes that the reason why the film is accepted and liked by overseas audiences is that it is a typed movie, sci-fi films and kung fu films are easier to get rid of language and cultural barriers than comedy films, and the value of "community with a shared future for mankind" presented by "The Wandering Earth 2" is also more likely to resonate with audiences in other countries.
Fu Ruoqing sighed that as a "hard science fiction" production, the quality of "The Wandering Earth 2" is good, and it can reflect China's hard power and today's development state in the international market, "without today's self-confidence, it is impossible to fantasize about the future."
Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Film, pointed out that China has long become the world's second largest film producer, but from a "film power" to a "film power", it is necessary to consider the international distribution capacity, export capacity and radiation capacity of Chinese films. Yu Dong believes that there are three ways to enhance international distribution capabilities: one is to cultivate international buyers, in the past, Chinese filmmakers took copies to overseas film festivals to find buyers, and now we invite buyers from all over the world to come to Chinese film festivals to understand and select Chinese films; The second is international co-production, which bundles interests in production and distribution and jointly develops the market; The third is to create a mature international schedule, Hollywood has a "Christmas file", China has a "Spring Festival stall", "For about 7000 million overseas Chinese, the Spring Festival stall is an opportunity to watch Chinese blockbusters simultaneously".
Fu Ruoqing bluntly said that in order for Chinese films to "go global", they need to do solid basic work first. "Among the few of us here, the most experienced and best is Jiang Zhiqiang, Boss Jiang." Fu Ruoqing pointed to Jiang Zhiqiang, president of Hong Kong Anle Film Co., Ltd. on the side.
Jiang Zhiqiang, who is in his seventies, has filmed Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and Zhang Yimou's "Heroes", and is also the driving force behind Chinese blockbusters such as "Monster Hunt" and "Cold War", and he has long been committed to promoting Chinese films to the international film industry. While his peers are still exploring the "methodology" of international cooperation, Jiang Zhiqiang's focus has returned to the core part of the film art of light and shadow: "Write the script first." For a good movie, the most important thing is the script. (End)