International Cooperation to Shape the Future

　　More than 370 colorful principal activities, big orders completed worth RMB 17.4 billion, participation of millions of participants in Beijing Film Panorama, Film Market, Film Carnival, Film Concert, Filmmaker Salon, and New Film Release Conference, film forums attended by a multitude of international big shots—all this contributes to the reputation of the 7th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF 2017) that lives up to. So, it is no wonder that numerous filmmakers were shocked at its rapid growth and youthful vigor. “It is my honor to have attended all the versions of the Beijing International Film Festival so far. Though it hasn’t yet set in motion, all people here can feel its charm,” said Cameron Bailey, art director of the Toronto International Film Festival, who has attended the BJIFF for seven consecutive years. Not only is the film festival orderly organized and do the government and film & TV institutions take an active part in it, but also Chinese film fans are quite passionate. I believe BJIFF will be a new focus of the world’s film industry.

　　When Beijing “meets” a film festival, film fans “encounters” their beloved films, and filmmakers walk on the right track of the vigorous development of Chinese film industry, the BJIFF seizes the opportunity to set sail, making it be a place where film masters from home and abroad offer insights and exchange ideas as well as even a perfect viewing destination in the mind of film buffs from all parts of the world. The BJIFF fully shows the power and appeal of the national capital Beijing as a city of culture and innovation. Following on from several years of development, the BJIFF shows its flourishing charm like never before, a noticeable appeal that brings the global filmmakers together.

 

■Stellar lineup of jury highlights the authoritativeness of Tiantan Award  

　　BJIFF 2017, which was successfully held from April 16 to 23 in Beijing, is well recognized by all walks of life. Focusing on the functional orientation of promoting Chinese and foreign cultural exchange, fueling the development of the film industry, and serving cultural construction of Beijing as the capital, BJIFF mobilized all its efforts in such aspects as subjectivity, diversity, internationalization, innovation, high-end, marketization, professionalism and public orientation, and completely went far beyond previous versions in terms of film quality, screening box office, popularity of guests, professionalization of forums, market transaction, and brand influence.

　　Some 400 guests (incl. 59 crews) attended the red carpets and opening & closing ceremonies of BJIFF 2017, including representatives of Chinese and foreign famous filmmakers: Zhang Yimou, Hirokazu Koreeda, Sylvia Chang, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Jean Reno, Ian Somerhalder, Aamir Khan, Emir Kusturica, Aaron Kwok, Lin Chi-ling, Jean Lau, Liu Ye, Crystal Liu (Liu Yifei), Zaninla Zhao (Zhao Liying), Feng Shaofeng, Jiang Wenli, Zhou Dongyu, Jerry Ye, Andrew Lau, Sasaki Nozonmi, Sammo Hung, Duan Yihong, Wu Jing, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Monica Bellucci, Honami Suzuki, Alan Tam, Mao A’min, Sitar Tan (Tan Weiwei), Sa Dingding, Wu Gang, Shawn Dou (Dou Xiao), Janine Chang, Benny Chan, Jiang Yiyan, Zhu Yawen, Ou Hao, Zhang Liang, Liu Xijun, Pan Changjiang, Zhang Tian’ai, Kenneth Tsang, Ren Suxi, Xiaoshenyang (Shen He), Yu Shaoqun, Zhang Han, Tiffany Ann Hsu, etc.

　　BJIFF Tiantan Award has been inheriting the core value concept of "Beauty in Variety, Harmony in Diversity" and the gist of “Share the Screen, Shape the Future”. Adhering to previous orientation and target of Tiantan Award Competition Section, BJIFF 2017 invited masters as judges and continued its great reputation and brand influence in the industry with international vision, standardized procedures and professional level, lifting the award competition to a new height. The award speaks volumes for the good ideal of Beijing and China film industries to exchange and dialogue with the world’s film industry, get mutual benefits and win-win results, and jointly promote the harmonious development of the film industry all over the world. Besides, it also makes efforts to raise the bar so as to further strengthen its credibility and authoritativeness. Tiantan Award Competition Section takes advantage of the opening and closing ceremonies and other project platforms of BJIFF to introduce and publicize the progress and outcome achieved by its Competition Department, so as to form agglomeration effect.

　　With the aim of "building a top film event with international vision and humanistic feelings", the organizing committee of BJIFF has sent invitations to prestigious filmmakers and finalized the jury, which comprises seven members, including one president and six judges.

　　The Jury President of Tiantan Award this year is famous Danish director Bille August, and other Jury members include Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung, Italian producer Paolo Del Brocco, Chinese actress Jiang Wenli, Romanian director Radu Jude, American director Rob Minkoff, and French actor Jean Reno. With their unique understanding of the film and passion for Chinese culture, the world-class filmmakers joined this year’s BJIFF to ensure the outstanding quality of Tiantan Award will be kept, thus promoting film art, improving its level, and enhancing the influence of BJIFF in the world.

　　

■"Chinese Stories" has become the global focus

　　As a Sino-foreign film communication platform, "Chinese stories" has attracted global filmmakers to look for creative ideas and inspiration at BJIFF, and it has been highly acclaimed by filmmakers at home and abroad. Although American star Ian Somerhalder, who has just finished shooting The Vampire Diaries, came to the BJIFF for the first time, he came with an important mission. "BJIFF gathers film investors, directors, actors and actresses across the world, which is a good opportunity for seeking projects. I hope to find film projects or screenplays suitable for me at the film festival and create more and better contents."

　　Emir Kusturica, the famous Serbian director who has won two Golden Palm awards came to this year's BJIFF with his new film On the Milky Road starring Italian film actress Monica Bellucci. When asked about his impression of Beijing, he smiled and said that he enjoyed the feeling of observing Beijing City in the street very much. He disclosed that he was ready to shoot films in China and had already supervised a commercial film not in name.

　　This year's BJIFF insists on high-end positioning and invites experts and masters across the world to Beijing to offer advice on China's film development. World famous directors and producers were invited to attend the Sino-foreign Co-production Forum of this year's BJIFF. The Guests include Serbian director Emir Kusturica, Chinese director Chen Kaige, Indian producer, director and actor Aamir Khan, American director Rob Cohen, Raindog Films CEO Ged Doherty, and Huayi Brothers Film Co., Ltd. CEO Jerry Ye. At the forum, domestic and foreign filmmakers conducted dialogues to explore the best pathway for Sino-foreign co-production, and strive to build a professional platform for domestic and foreign filmmakers to discuss Sino-foreign film co-production and development.

　　Global experts, scholars, and insider representatives including Michael Armen Karagosian (President of American film technology consultancy MKPE), Julian Philip Pinn (current Chair of the ISO Standards Committee for Cinematography, and Technical Consultant of International Cinema Federation), David Stump (Technical Director of American Society of Cinematographers), and Glenn Kiser (Director of Dolby Institute) attended the International Digital Cinema Technology Forum themed "The Innovation of Science & Technology Driven Cinema Quality Upgrade" with Chinese representatives to look for breakthrough for China's film industry.

　　Industry Conversations of the BJIFF focused on current hot topics and sparked heated discussion among insiders of the industry. There were no empty seats at the event. Insiders in the film industry said that Industry Conversations of BJIFF Film Market acts as an observer and a weather vane in the industry, and a platform for film industry practitioners to exchange ideas and share knowledge.

 

■A New record of agreements concluded for Film Market

　　The abundance of the results achieved at the BJIFF that has now been in its seventh year is largely attributed to resource superiority of Beijing as the nation’s capital, rapid development of Chinese film market, and solicitous expectations of the industry for the rapid development of Chinese films. The amount of contracts for BJIFF records substantial grows each year as the exchange platform of BJIFF is of great significance in promoting film industry development and construction of cultural centers of China. This year, a total of 108 enterprises entered into cooperation agreements in 56 key projects, with a total amount at RMB 17.458 billion, up 6.9% year-on-year, contributing to the contracted sum in excess of RMB 10 billion at Film Market for the fourth year in a row.  

　　The project contents become more diversified and internationalized. With the core concept of "integration and innovation", Film Market this year explored new methods, promoted new technologies, cultivated new filmmakers and works, and discussed the innovation models and development trends of the film industry. During the three-day exhibitions, presentations, exchanges and transactions, Industry Conversations and Events & Activities achieved a record success. 

　　This year’s Film Market recorded over 30,000 visitors in three days. In terms of exhibitors, the production companies hold a major proportion of around 37%, and those engaged in copyright sales and agents hold a proportion of about 11%, showing an increasing trend. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the film technology companies, publicity and marketing organizations, distribution companies, and legal service and financial institutions hold a proportion of 10%, 7%, 6% and 3%, respectively, remaining 23% of the total for the others.  

　　As an important section of the Film Market, Project Pitches witnesses a rising of new filmmakers with new works, manifesting its role as an incubator for young filmmakers. This year, 712 projects have been collected under Project Pitches, with 5.6% increase from the amount recorded in the previous year. Amid the five years since its establishment, Project Pitches received 2,242 projects and gave awards to 50 outstanding ones. Incomplete statistics show that the outstanding projects like The Bodyguard, Dot 2 Dot, Bigfish & Begonia, Mountain Cry and Go away Mr. Tumor from the Project Pitches have achieved a box office of over RMB1.5 billion. The ten projects shortlisted for this year’s Project Pitches are highly distinctive, which caters to the core concept—“innovation” of the 7th Beijing International Film Festival • Film Market. They are Silvery Prairie, No Killing, On the Other Side of the Mountain, Cosplay, Forest of Tumor, The Tower of Terror, The Day Back to Zero, Lonely Beijing, Steamworld and Lost Control, of which, Forest of Tumor, The Tower of Terror, No Killing and Cosplay were given the Special Award, Best Business Potential Award, Best Original Screenplay and Best Creativity Award, respectively. 

　　This year’s Film Market provided 30 industry dialogues and events & activities in a more diversified manner. In respect of contents, besides the hot issues like Internet technology and finance, the diversification highlights the new trends of the film industry in China and even the world, including the technical element innovation, marketing mode innovation, distribution model innovation, trading form innovation and the new thinking and channels of co-production. 

　　There were a total of 165 projects signed at previous versions of BJIFF, grossing RMB 57.495 billion in business transaction. This year saw a broader range of contract projects, covering the whole film industry chain such as film project investment, prominent Sino-foreign co-productions, as well as infrastructures of the film industry, strategic cooperation in the film and film & TV funds. 

 

■Film cultural feast for the mass

　　For each year's BJIFF, over 1 million visitors in Beijing come to enjoy the grand event. Such popularity surpasses all the other film festivals and becomes a unique style of BJIFF. The Film Panorama and Film Carnival are most favored among the film fans.  

　　“This is the biggest film event of Beijing in 2017,” said Zhang Xiaoguang, Deputy Curator of China Film Archive and Deputy Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee. After eight months of preparations, under the purpose to “watch the world’s best films in Beijing for the spring”, nearly 500 excellent films were selected from over 2,000 candidates of more than 100 countries and regions. All those films are to be exhibited at over 30 commercial, art and college cinemas for 16 days. A dozens of sections are included, such as “Tribute to Masters”, “Restoration of Classics”, “Highlights of Award-winning Films”, “Jury President” and “Essence of Franchise Movies”. Blow-up, a film which won a couple of international awards including Golden Palm in the 20th Cannes Film Festival, sold out in five minutes, making it the most popular film in BJIFF 2017. Plus, as one of the cinemas to host the section, China Film Archive fetched RMB 2 billion in the first 30 minutes to become the highest-grossing cinema in BJIFF so far. The tickets of hit films like On the Milky Road, After the Storm, Close-Knit, Gone with the Wind, Mulholland Dr., All That Jazz, Manhattan and Rage have sold out; those of new films like Mr. No Problem and This Is Not What I Expected were also snapped up quickly; and unnoticed quality films like The Troubleshooters, Street Angel, In Memory of Hou Baolin, This is Life and Florence and the Uffizi Gallery also saw a quick sellout of tickets.    

　　The tickets for films to be screened have been available on "Wepiao + Gewara" since 12:00, March 31. To get tickets for coveted films, film fans racked their brains in their social circle, thus contributing to the “speed of BJIFF” in box-office numbers--more than RMB 1 million were earned in the first one minute, RMB 3 million grabbed in five minutes and RMB 5 million nabbed in fifteen minutes, and combined with the packages for "Hirokazu Koreeda", "Michelangelo Antonioni" and "The Fast and the Furious franchise", tick sales have amounted to RMB 6 million so far, reaching a new record high in the BJIFF history. 

　　During the Film Panorama, renowned directors and stars like Hirokazu Koreeda and Aamir Khan had face-to-face communication with audiences, which provided a platform for fans and crews in exchange thoughts and emotions on films.  

　　The 7th Beijing International Film Festival-Film Carnival will run in Huairou Film & Television Industry Demonstration Zone from April 15 to May 1, 2017, with the activities held in the State Production Base of China Film Group and STELLAR MEGAMEDIA under two routes--“Future World” and “Journey of Crossing”. Film Carnival covers six areas-- Film History Retrospect Zone, Film Technology Experience Area, Film Shooting Experience Zone, Film Theme Market, Film Story Experience Park and Film Theme Park and provides 24 theme activities, such as film shooting experience, Film Theme Market, post-production visiting, film ice hockey, Film Theme Honeycomb Maze, 9DVR film experience, Zhuangyuan Cruise, Huba’s Paradise and Film Characters Challenge. The outdoor shooting site of some films like Monster Hunt will be open to the visitors for the first time. During the 15-day carnival, visitors will have unprecedented amazing experience on film and entertainment and witness the achievements of film development in Huairou from over 20 activities in 6 sections of 2 parks. 

　　Film Carnival innovatively practiced the mode of coupon tickets, and joined hands with nearly 20 renowned tourist attractions in Huairou to build an all-for-one tourism linkage platform, achieve the effect of "price halving and content doubling", and enable tourists to travel around Huairou with one ticket only. Considering travel experience, the official authority kept tourists updated on the carnival through Internet, App and newscast, to facilitate their choices; tickets were available online and offline for the first time to facilitate buying; besides, there were two online interactive activities during the carnival: "Film Brain Booster" and "Beautiful Moments of Film Carnival" Tourism Photography Competition, which presented gifts to enhance tourists' sense of gain.

 

■BJIFF creates a new wave of Chinese films

　　With the integration of Chinese films into the world, BJIFF has become part of global film events, built an "international network" for filmmakers, and created a "new wave" of Chinese films. To achieve the explosive growth of Chinese films, we need to establish high-quality & efficient element resources linkage platforms; need to judge markets, study trends, and map out the film industry development strategies and objectives; need to activate wisdom and accumulate ideas to develop the industrial development concept and proposition during the substantial growth of box office earnings; need to establish the say of Chinese film industry in the world, lead the new-round development of the global film industry, and create a new pattern of world film culture, art and industry. BJIFF has responsibility to achieve that.

　　Beijing is a film city worthy of the name. Dingjun Mountain, the first film made by Chinese, was shot in Beijing Fengtai Photo Studio in 1905 and screened in Daguan Pavilion, Qianmen. Chinese films took root here, developed, grew strong and forged indissoluble relations with this city from generation to generation. Now BJIFF has become an important promotion platform telling Chinese stories, establishing the say of Chinese films in the world, leading the new-round development of world films, and making Chinese films a weathervane for the development of the world film industry and film technologies.

　　As the political center, cultural center, international exchange center and technology & innovation center of China, Beijing has implemented the strategy of culture-enriched Beijing, technology-empowered Beijing and environment-friendly Beijing in depth, and vigorously developed the cultural industry. In 2014, Beijing's cultural and creative industry achieved an added value of RMB 282.63 billion, accounting for 13.2% of Beijing's GDP, and becoming Beijing's second pillar industry behind finance only; from January to September 2015, the added value of Beijing's cultural and creative industry grew by 13% despite the mounting pressure from economic downturn. In 2015, Beijing achieved box office earnings of RMB 3.15 billion, ranking first in China; registered 3.3 views per person, ranking first in China; and came out on top in per-capita screen sharing. In 2015, 291 films were produced in Beijing, accounting for 42% of the total in China; among the top 20 Chinese films in terms of box office, 13 films were produced in Beijing, accounting for 65%; of the five Chinese films with box office earnings of over RMB 1 billion, Beijing held 4, accounting for 80%.

　　Undoubtedly, films are tightly bound to Beijing. The film is a pillar for Beijing's cultural & creative industry. The influence of BJIFF will gradually be extended with the development of Beijing's film industry, paving ways to the fairyland of light and shadow across the ancient city.

Posted: April 23, 2017