Despite the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, the 11th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) was successfully held in the golden autumn in Beijing although being postponed twice. It’s the great passion on the lights and shadows in the films that encouraged us to resolutely choose to get together after long time of separation. 

At the end of the 2021, the Year of the Ox, we invite you to review the top ten highlights at the 2021 BJIFF and recall all the surprises and affections between the lights and shadows.

On July 6, the BJIFF’s official Weibo announced Gong Li to act as the jury president of 11th BJIFF "Tiantan Award” and she also became the first female to assume the post. The official news whetted the appetite of all the film fans with heated discussions at home and abroad. As the only actress whose films have won the top awards in the three major international film festivals in Europe, Gong Li has made great contributions to the globalization of Chinese films. With more than 50 awards at home and abroad over the past 30 years, she has served as the jury president and  member in some famous A-class international film festivals many times.

On July 27, the BJIFF officially announced Jackson Yee (Yi Yangqianxi), a young filmmaker, to serve as the Youth Publicity and Promotion Ambassador of the 11th BJIFF and the promotional video was officially released on the same day. The news immediately emerged on the search trend of Weibo afterwards. During the BJIFF, Jackson Yee (Yi Yangqianxi) introduced the special activities such as the Theme Forum, the Masterclass and the Beijing Market in the form of video, and sincerely invited all the fans to meet with the lights and shadows to experience the charms of film art.

The main promotional video of the 11th BJIFF has attracted nearly 200 Chinese media and more than 500 foreign propagandas with the dissemination in 19 countries and regions. The official Weibo has over 43 million views and over 1 million retweets.

The snapping up tickets and network speed are just the start of film fans to meet with the BJIFF. The “Beijing Film Panorama” at the 11th BJIFF provided 17 sections with different characteristics, nearly 300 Chinese and foreign masterpieces and 1,000 screenings for all the film fans. For the first time, the section was extended from Beijing to Tianjin and Zhangjiakou. The tickets of Mulholland Drive (4K) in the “Classics Restoration" section were sold out within 9 seconds, witnessing the "fastest snapping up speed" by all the fans.

The 11th BJIFF joined hands with Variety to launch a promotional video themed “Make Concerted Efforts to Create Light” which incorporated 55 filmmakers. The series of blockbusters included not only the senior film artists who pursue both professional excellence and moral integrity, but also some mainstay directors with countless excellent works as well as some film veterans and new movie stars. The video was viewed nearly 4 million times at the official Weibo, an uncompromising hotspot during the 11th BJIFF. 

The red carpet ceremony for the opening ceremony of the 11th BJIFF was held at Beijing Yanqi Lake International Convention & Exhibition Center with the participation of a total of more than 200 guests and stars. A total of 14 members of the crew of the opening film The Battle at Lake Changjin appeared on the ceremony including Yu Dong (presenter and chief producer), Huang Jianxin (general producer and screenwriter), Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam (director and producer), Jiang Defu, Chen Hong and Liang Fengying (producer), and the main actors and actress such as Wu Jing, Zhu Yawen, Li Chen, Han Dongjun, Zhang Hanyu and Li Mincheng (Mario Li), which became the longest red carpet lineup at the 11th BJIFF.

At the opening ceremony, Tian Hua, a senior artist with silver hair, was specially invited by the organizing committee to deliver a speech. At the age of 93, she has accompanied at least four generations of film fans to witness the development of Chinese films.

After the press conference of the jury of Tiantan Award on September 26, Zhang Songwen, a jury member, returned to the stage to express his gratitude to the organizing committee. In addition, Zhang Songwen also extended his appreciation and recognition to the working staff on Weibo during the 11th BJIFF. He wrote, “The gardens, lakes and paintings at the Yanqi Hotel in Huairou, Beijing, as well as the lovely working staff of the BJIFF are doomed to be recalled in the future.”

Based on the goal of further incubating outstanding young filmmakers, the 11th BJIFF established the BJIFF TALENTS for the first time. By means of the short film training program, the targeted script creation, shooting and post-production guidance, the BJIFF TALENTS helped young creators complete the themed short films with both personal style and artistic level, realize the leap from creation to finished film, from script to screen, so as to open up a new field of the BJIFF. On September 27, the four outstanding short films, Lausanne, The Tiger Within, Angle and The Cage, were premiered in the cinema and screened on iQIYI "Online Exhibition" for more audiences.

The film Beyond the Skies became the biggest winner of the 11th BJIFF, making a clean sweep of three awards including the Best Cinematography, Best Actor and Best Feature Film, another Chinese film winning the Tiantan Award for Best Feature Film after the film 1942.

Before the Closing & Awards Ceremony was concluded, the short film “Reunion of Filmmakers in Golden Age” specially prepared by the BJIFF Organizing Committee greatly impressed the attending guests and the netizens. On the big screen, the images of more than 30 filmmakers in the golden age were displayed, which brought a big surprise for the attending guests and “previous memories” for the netizens. The elegance of the filmmakers in their golden ages as well as their brilliant appearance on the stage nowadays are complemented with each other, which made the fans sigh “how time files” and extend their gratitude for their great contributions to the Chinese film industry.