13th Beijing International Film Festival Opens, Celebrates Era in All Its Glory, and Feeds “Beijing Approach” into World Cinema
BEIJING, CHINA, April 24, 2023/ -- On April 22, The grand 13th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), hosted by China Media Group (CMG) and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality under the guidance of the China Film Administration, kicked off at the Beijing Yanqi Lake International Convention & Exhibition Center (BYCC).
Mr. Shen Haixiong, Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, CMG President, and President of the 13th BJIFF Organizing Committee who delivered a speech and announced the opening of the film festival, Mr. Li Yi, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group, Vice Chairman and Secretary of the Secretariat of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC), Mr. Zhang Hongsen, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group, Vice Chairman and Secretary of the Secretariat of the China Writers Association, Mr. Liu Siyang, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group, Vice Chairman and Secretary of the Secretariat of the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA), Mr. Mo Gaoyi, member of the Standing Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Executive Vice President of the 13th BJIFF Organizing Committee who gave a speech, Mr. Wang Ning, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and President of the National Centre for the Performing Arts and President of the Beijing Forum of Performing Arts, and other officials attended the opening ceremony of the 13th BJIFF.
Global filmmakers gather with passion to show the fruitful developments of literature and art in the new era
Meticulously prepared and aesthetically pleasing, the entire opening ceremony was brimming over with the magnificent look of a blockbuster through a cinematic approach to production, setting a milestone for the times, attaching a crown of glory to Chinese cinema, and celebrating its continuous prosperity and endless vitality.
With strong throbbing and unchanging sentiments, more than 200 filmmakers and guests from home and abroad hit the red carpet, showcasing the fruitful developments in literary and artistic creation in the new era and converging their film dreams into the city’s brilliant “Milky Way”.
The cast and crew of The Great War, Beijing 2022, The Wandering Earth II, Lost in the Stars, Women on the Verge, Moonstruck, The Legend, Yesterday Once More, The Procurator, Ciao, Godspeed, and Be Friend My Mom, as well as Chen Kaige, Peter Chan, Jackie Chan, Zhang Ziyi, Wu Jing, Angie Chiu, Kara Wai, Ni Ni, Gülnezer Bextiyar, Wu Dajing, Xia Yu, Zhu Yilong, Zhang Yixing, Zhang Zifeng, and other filmmakers, made a wonderful appearance, showing their resolve to get united to advance together.
Focusing on the keywords of “great spring, new journey”, the opening ceremony of the 13th BJIFF was a gathering for global filmmakers, a stage for telling the stories of China and Beijing, and a channel for demonstrating the development achievements and social prosperity of the capital of China
The hosts of the opening ceremony were Ren Luyu, Tian Wei, Li Yangwei, and Sun Yang, with Thai Ambassador to China Arthayudh Srisamoot as special guest, and actors Wu Gang, Wong Cho Lam, and Gülnezer Bextiyar as guest hosts.
Mr. Itthiphol Kunplome, Minister of Culture of Thailand, the Guest of Honor of the 13th BJIFF, was also invited to deliver a speech and send his blessings for the cooperation and exchange between the Chinese and Thai film industries.
The international Tiantan Award highlights the remarkable achievements in film history
At the Opening Ceremony where the Jury for Tiantan Award appeared, Jury President Zhang Yimou promised to deliver a satisfactory selection result to the public, “We will present more excellent films to you! Let’s give more love to films!”
In addition, Jury members Stanley Kwan, a famous director from Hong Kong, China, Nadav Lapid, an Israeli director, Pimpaka Towira, a Thai director, Zhang Songwen, a Chinese actor, and Zhou Dongyu, a Chinese actress, were also present at the Opening Ceremony, along with Fernando E. Juan Lima, President of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, who sent greetings online. They expect to have an amazing experience with the BJIFF.
The films selected for the Tiantan Award stood out from 1,488 films from 93 countries and regions. At the Opening Ceremony, the following selections were recommended: Adiós Buenos Aires, Ciao, Driving Madeleine, The Shadowless Tower, and Time Out (recommended by Jackie Chan); Scrapper, Sisters, Totem, The Lulus, and The Punishment (by Gao Ye); and Lost in the Stars, Men of Deeds, The Man Without Guilt, To Catch A Killer, and Until Branches Bend (by Fabien Gorgeart). All the recommended excellent works showed the audience the great variety of films from the world and the unremitting pursuit of filmmakers for art.
Lu Chuan, the director of the 13th BJIFF opening film—Beijing 2022, Yasmin Meichtry, Associate Director of the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage, and Ren Ziwei and Su Yiming, both of whom are protagonists of the film, appeared at the Opening Ceremony. Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, also sent a congratulatory video. On the scene, Lu announced for the first time that the film jointly produced by Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the IOC will be released on May 19, 2023. He also sent out an invitation to the public to relive the memories of such an amazing winter, and to enjoy the charming Games from the film.
Art serves as a bond that presents the international identity, modernity, Beijing flavor, and passion for film of the BJIFF
With artistic features, the Opening Ceremony released the filmmakers’ utmost love for film, showing the world the international identity, modernity, Beijing flavor, and passion for film of this international platform.
The grand event opened with a heart-warming and exciting short film. Let’s enjoy the Best Films in Beijing this Spring, the opening show sent a sincere invitation to the world, using a vivid form to introduce the highlights of the BJIFF and amplify the excitement among the audiences. Bai Baihe and Liu Yuxin performed the BJIFF promotion song, Remember When, to depict the intimacy between films and the audience and utter the love of filmmakers to films.
Lisa Ono and Shan Yichun brought the audience into the gorgeous world of films with the song The River of Films. This classic movie song turned on an extra measure of charm from the interpretation of the two great artists.
The musical performance The Most Beautiful China brought by Member MAXIMILIAN showed us the glory of Beijing, the “dual Olympic city”, since the spirit of sports has been left perpetually in this city. The musical performance Four Seasons performed by Ning Jing echoed the theme of the BJIFF—“Spring is Coming”, showing unlimited passion and love to the global audience and the film industry of China.
Chinese strength with “China’s Stories” depicts the glorious era of the film Industry
The Chinese film market is showing a sign of prosperity. The Chinese New Year holiday set off the Chinese film market to a fine start, making it pull in 6.758 billion yuan, second to the highest record in the same period. Chinese filmmakers never stop writing the glory of the times with their struggle while showing the vigor and vitality of China and the world “together for a shared future”.
Under the Special Honor session, the presenters and cast & crew of the hits that were released during the Chinese New Year period, including Full River Red, Wandering Earth II, Hidden Blade, and Deep Sea, made an appearance, expressing their desire and motive to “create light with joint efforts”, sentiments for the times, gratitude to the audience, and wishes for the future.
In the recommendation of the films of the year, the cast & crew of The Great War appeared on stage, including Fu Ruoqing, Chen Kaige, Chen Hong, Xin Baiqing, Zhu Yilong, Zhang Zifeng, Arthur Chen, Zhang Youhao, Oho Ou, Vision Wei, Yin Fang, Wei Daxun, Zhang Songwen, and Zhang Ziyi. This magnum opus, jointly created by these superstars and great filmmakers, will demonstrate the great deeds of the heroic People's Volunteer Army in the War to Resist the U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea in a panoramic perspective and from various levels. It was included in the Key Projects of the Beijing Cultural Excellence Program in 2022.
Nine major events & activities are shining with vigor on the right track to help build China into a film powerhouse at full steam
Beijing redolent with history and the BJIFF with a sense of modernity do justice to the best ever synergy of each other. Over the past 13 years, the BJIFF has become a vital driver for the high-quality development of Chinese cinema and an pillar of the world cinema ecosystem, bringing passion and surprise to the development of global cinema. As the first international film festival that fully resumes offline operations in China, this year’s BJIFF will once again fulfill its promise—“Let’s enjoy the best films in Beijing this spring” —made to movie fans. From April 22 to 29, various activities will be shining with vigor, contributing to the building of an international, professional, and audience-oriented film festival, hence bringing more new formats and new possibilities for world cinema.
This year, the Beijing Film Panorama, which is extremely popular with movie fans, features more than 180 outstanding films of various genres and styles from multiple countries, the Online BJIFF that has been launched for years, and the new addition of the “Weekend Package for Convention Town”, allowing the audience to enjoy blockbusters. The Theme Forum devotes itself to ramping the Film Power Forum brand, with three core forums and three theme forums for the attendees to give input into Chinese cinema, as well as four workshops & masterclasses with Zhang Yimou, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and Yonfan. The Beijing Film Market will settle down in Langyuan Station for the first time and will include a new Cultural and Creative Derivatives Exhibition, in a bid to drive the consumption growth of popular culture. In addition, through the assembly of an A-list lineup of final-round jury for the Project Pitches, the addition of a “chief producer” team, the launch of a series of industry networking activities, and other initiatives, it is working hard to serve as a bridge for connecting creators with the market, in the hope of building an “everlasting film festival”. This year’s Film Carnival boasts a total of more than 40 activities and approximately 100 immersive programs that ramp up the experience of film culture plus recreation. The 30th Beijing College Student Film Festival (BCSFF) enables young people to contribute to the development of Chinese cinema with activities such as the 10-yuan Ticket Program, the Youth Video Challenge Program, and the Young Filmmakers Forum. With vigorous creativity, the “Film+” brings a wealth of crossover activities with increased possibilities and vitality for the film festival, including the Film Night in Beijing, China with the addition of filmmakers’ music parties, as well as the “Love of Music”Film Soundtrack Concert, new Movement Section, Science and Technology Section, Documentary Section, Forward Future Section, Beijing Ethnic Film Festival, “Brands Power Chinese Movies” Live Streaming for Nonprofits, Run for Fun, Metaverse Film Forum, Game-Based Animated Films Section, Filmmaker Frisbee Invitational Tournament, and the 2nd ReelFocus Program.
Notably, this year’s BJIFF further improves the training system for young directors, striving to help young filmmakers to grow in full bloom. Apart from partnering with the Hong Kong International Film Festival again, it invites a number of outstanding projects to participate in the second-round selection of the Hong Kong, China Subsection, part of the Project Pitches; continues to deepen its cooperation with the Beijing International Sports Film Week, which will collaborate with the Project Pitches section to establish the Sports Film Project Support Fund; and launches a series of screening and forum activities for mid- and low-budget Chinese-language arthouse films to help them fight their way out.
“Share” the film blueprint and “benefit from” each other’s cultural landscape. On a new journey of upgrading China from a “producer of quantity” to a “producer of quality” in terms of film, the BJIFF has developed into a stage for Chinese filmmakers to respond to the call of the times in a sonorous voice. In the new spring, the 13th BJIFF will be there in full costume with unchained Melody, engraving the extraordinary history and branding the legend of Chinese cinema on this vast land of Beijing overflowing with love.
Gan Gu
BJIFF
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