An Illustrative Feast Under Light and Shadow in Beijing

　　The Opening Ceremony of the7th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), hosted by the State Administration of Press, Publication,Radio, Film and Television of thePeople's Republic of China (SAP-PRFT) and People's Government ofBeijing Municipality, and organizedby Film Bureau of the SAPPRFT,China Radio International (CRI),Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press,Publication, Radio, Film and Televi-sion, Huairou District People's Gov-ernment of Beijing Municipality, Bei-jing TV Station (BTV) and ChinaFilm Studio Co., Ltd., was held in theState Production Base of China FilmGroup in Huairou District on theevening of April 16.

　　At the Opening Ceremony, NieChenxi, Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the CommunistParty of China Central Committee, Secretary of theParty Leadership Group and Minister of the SAPPRFT,Minister of the National Copyright Administration of thePeople's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Orga-nizing Committee of the 7th BJIFF, delivered an enthu-siastic speech. Cai Qi, Deputy Secretary of the BeijingMunicipal Committee of the Communist Party of China,Mayor of Beijing, and Chairman of the Organizing Com-mittee of the 7th BJIFF, declared the opening of the 7thBJIFF. Leaders who were present at the Opening Cer-emony in the evening include Li Wei (Chairman of theStanding Committee of the Beijing Municipal People'sCongress and Executive Vice Chairman of the Organiz-ing Committee of the 7th BJIFF), Jing Junhai (Vice Min-ister of the Publicity Department of the Communist Par-ty of China Central Committee), Tong Gang (Member ofthe Party Leadership Group and Vice Minister of theSAPPRFT, and Executive Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 7th BJIFF), Zhang Hongsen(Member of the Party Leadership Group of the SAP-PRFT, Director General of the Film Bureau of theSAPPRFT, and Vice Chairman of the Organizing Com-mittee of the 7th BJIFF), Wang Gengnian (Member ofthe Party Leadership Group of the SAPPRFT, Presi-dent of CRI, and Executive Vice Chairman of the Orga-nizing Committee of the 7th BJIFF), Wang Ning (ViceMayor of Beijing and Executive Vice Chairman of theOrganizing Committee of the 7th BJIFF), and Li Wei(Secretary- General of the People's Government ofBeijing Municipality), etc.

　　This year's Opening Ceremony abandoned tradi-tional ways, added film theme sentiments and ideas tothe splendid and professional film feast, and presentedthe audience an evening gala with "film feelings, Beijingstyle, Chinese style, and global vision".

　　The starstudded Opening Ceremony was presided over by Li Kun, hostess of Beijing TV Station andLan Yu, hostess of CCTV Movie Channel. and DavidWu as the special guest host. Danish director BilleAugust, winner of two awards of Golden Palm at CannesFilm Festival and one Academy Award for Best ForeignLanguage Film and the Jury President of TiantanAward, Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung, famousItalian director Paolo Del Brocco, Chinese actress Ji-ang Wenli, Romanian director Radu Jude, Americandirector Rob Minkoff, and French actor Jean Reno-made a grand appearance, showing the high stan-dards of the jury.

　　In addition, world- leading filmmakers like Serbiandirector Emir Kusturica, Indian director and actor Aamir Khan, and Taiwan director Sylvia Chang also attended the grand event.

　　Catering to the robust development of Chinesefilms, lots of influential crews made a splendid appearance at the Red Carpet for the Opening Ceremony, including La Peikang, Han Sanping, Jiang Ping, Yu Dong,Liu Weiqiang, Huang Jianxin, Liu Ye and Zhu Yawenfrom Founding of the Army ; Dany Boon from RaidDingue ; Jean Lau and Jiang Yiyan from Dealer Healer ;crews from The Chinese Orphan , Mu Guiying Assuming Command, The Story of the Jade Bracelet, The Mirror of Fortune and Xie Yaohuan; Vivian Chen, KingdomYuen and Yuen Wah from My Kitchen Lover ; IanSomerhalder from The Vampire Diaries ; Aamir Khanfrom Dangal ; Pan Changjiang from A Journey for Love;Vincent Zhao (Zhao Wenzhuo) from God of War ;Zhang Bin and Han Qiaosheng from Who is the King;and crews from Come Across Love, Please Please Please, and The Big Rescue , etc.

　　Beijing International Film Festival is an art platformthat advocates the core value idea of“Beauty in Variety,HarmonyinDiversity”.TheprogramsoftheOpeningCeremonyfeaturedthreetranscendencesandinnovations.

　　The first is New Perspective. The reason that film has become a great art form is not only due to ambilight on screen, but also dependency on“Master, Mass,Market”behind the screen.

　　The second is New Atmosphere. All performances and expression sections kept to the point of films and highlighted the integration and inclusion of“Beijing Charisma” into the on- site audio- visual atmosphere,hence presenting a vivid and smooth transitional session of the ceremony.

　　The third is New Temperature Sensation. Warmth is what this year’s Opening Ceremony brought to the audience in the most intuitive manner, be it on the scene or on screen.

　　Songs & dances performed by stars showed the youth and fashion of Beijing. Traey Miley (Guan Xiaotong), a native young actress joined hands with a Norwegian new popular band to bring the audience a medley of energetic film theme songs, including “Little Luck” for Our Times ,“Kung Fu Fighting”for Kung Fu Panda 3 , and self- titled theme song“ Comrades: Almost a Love Story ”.

　　Well- known Chinese singer Sitar Tan (Tan Weiwei) sang a romantic song called "Blossoming Flowers on the Pathway". The song is the theme song of Love Education , a new film directed by Sylvia Chang to be released this June. The performance aimed to present the film to the world for the first time through the stage of BJIFF.

　　At the Opening Ceremony, This Is Not What I Expected was introduced as the opening film of the 7th BJIFF. This is the first time that the debut film of a director has been selected as the opening film,showing the festival's strong support to new Chinese filmmakers.

　　Supervised by Peter Chan and Jojo Hui, directed by Derek Hui, starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhou Dongyu, Sun Yizhou and Xi Mengyao, This Is Not What I Expected tells a fantastic love story of a man (played by Takeshi Kaneshiro) and a woman (played by Zhou Dongyu) brought together by food. The Film Panorama of BJIFF 2017 opened with the film on April 8, receiving strong response and high praise from the audience, and drawing great attention from the Organizing Committee.

　　As the core of BJIFF, Tiantan Award has inherited the core values of "Beauty in Variety, Harmony in Diversity", and upheld the purport of "Sharing the Screen,Shaping the Future". BJIFF 2017 stuck to the orientation and goal of Tiantan Award, invited world masters as judges, continued and enhanced its great reputation and brand influence in the industry.

　　The 15 outstanding films shortlisted for Tiantan Award stood out of 424 entries from 59 countries and regions on six continents through five rounds of selection. With rich subjects, diverse types and distinctive styles, they show the highest level of world films and the uniqueness of BJIFF.

　　The Opening Gala of BJIFF marks the beginning of BJIFF 2017. Next, Tiantan Award 2017 will enter the review stage. Events during BJIFF 2017,such as Sino- Foreign Film Co- production Forum,China Film Distribution Summit, International Digital Cinema Technology Forum, Summit on the Beauty of Film, Focus on Italy Section and Documentary Section, will make Beijing a real city of light and shadow in April.