BJIFF: fervent yet orderly

　　The 6th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) set sail on April 16. The Opening Ceremony, Gewara+Wepiao?Beijing Film Panorama, Film Market, Film Carnival, Theme Forum and other activities drew great attention from the industry, the sites of activities were all packed with fervent yet orderly atmosphere.

　　Compared with the previous events, this session reached a new record in terms of the magnitude of participating guests, the scale of media coverage, quantity of project pitches, quality of films for panorama, and number of viewers.

　　The first day of Film Market exhibition saw the venue packed with people

　　The 6th BJIFF Film Market was ceremoniously inaugurated at Beijing International Hotel on April 19. The Film Market was composed of five sections of “Exhibition, Project Pitches, Industry Conversations, Events & Activities and Contract Signing Ceremony”. More than 200 enterprises and institutions from China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Republic of Korea, Finland, Israel and other countries and regions carried out exhibition, negotiations and trading, covering a variety of fields including creation, production, distribution, brokerage, marketing, publicity and technology, which reflected recent dynamics in the world film market.

　　On the first day of the exhibition, more than 100 well-known enterprises including China Film Group Corporation, Dolby Laboratories, Pegasus Motion Pictures, 1905.com, Phenom Films, Beijing National Culture Exchange Center, Korean Film Council (KOFIC), Taipei Film Commission, NIPA, Huashi TV and Wishart were present.

　　On the very day of the opening ceremony of the Project Pitches section, there were no empty seats at the venue. The ten roadshow projects had distinctive characteristics, many “dark horses” were high-profile, and the final winners deserved what they got. This year’s Film Market Project Pitches section received 674 projects, with a year-on-year growth of 48%, reaching a new high in terms of quantity and speed. The quality of the works has been greatly improved with participation of a large range of enterprises. Internet film and television emerging enterprises attended the event with their high-quality projects. About 50% of the film and television enterprises participated in Project Pitches for the first time.

　　Industry Conversations and Events & Activities were well received. Industry Conversations dealt with current hotspots, drawing attention of insiders for its timeliness. All seats were occupied at the sites of activities, including “Cases and Boundaries of Financial Innovation in The Film Industry” sponsored by Entertainment Capital, “NCF New Filmmaker Brands Release and VR Frontier Experience from the United States” sponsored by NCF New Filmmaker, “New Ways of Capital Operations and New Risks for Film & Television Industry” Sponsored by King & Zone Law Firm, “Taiwan Cinema Showcase” sponsored by CNplus Production.Inc, “Magilm Pictures MAG Plans showcase” sponsored by Magilm Pictures, “China－Eastern Europe Film Promotion Project: Workshop with Eastern European Film Professionals” sponsored by Polish governmental agency, and “How to leverage VFX to incubate your IP content - In terms of feature, game and VR channels integration” sponsored by Pixomondo.

　　No one late for Asian Premiere of A Tale of Love and Darkness

　　Gewara+Wepiao?Beijing Film Panorama of this year's BJIFF is extremely popular, different from previous years.

　　On April 17, Asian Premiere of A Tale of Love and Darkness was held at China Film Archive. American director, Hollywood superstar, and Oscar Best Actress winner Natalie Portman attended the premiere. The film is her directorial debut. About 600 tickets were sold out just ten seconds after the selling started. To ensure an orderly activity, Gewara+Wepiao sent short messages to the audience every day, reminding them to arrive on time. On the day of the premiere, no one was late. Everything at the activity site was in good order.

　　Film Carnival receives 50,000 audiences within 10 days

　　On April 9, Film Carnival of the 6th BJIFF opened in Huairou District, with main venue at Yanqi Lake, and branch venue at Huairou Studio City. By April 18, both venues of the Carnival had received a total number of 50,000 tourists. Among various activities of the Carnival, Red Carpet Experience, New Film Release Conference, Cosplay Cruise, Flash Songs, and Screening of World Classic Animation Films at the main venue were quite popular. Wall of Stars' handprints, Poster Exhibition of Classic Red Films, and Exhibition of Film Costumes and Properties at the branch venue, especially debut of chairs and costumes in The Taking of Tiger Mountain, were praised by the tourists.

　　Seats for Film forums fall short of demand

　　On April 17-18, two major parts of Theme Forum--Sino-Foreign Film Co-production Forum and Chinese Film Merchandising Industry Summit were held in Beijing International Hotel.

　　At Sino-Foreign Film Co-production Forum, famous executive producer and director Huang Jianxin served as the host. Guests present on the stage are American director and actress Natalie Portman, Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, Raman Hui, director of Monster Hunt, Yu Dong, president of Bona Film Group, American producer James Schamus, and British producer Iain Smith. They discussed on topics including their own creation and Sino-foreign production.

　　Guests invited at Chinese Film Merchandising Industry Summit are Bill Kong (President of EDKO Film Ltd.), Ni Yuehong (Vice President of Beijing Film Academy), Ye Ning (CEO of Huayi Bros Pictures), Jiang Defu (General Manager of China Film Co., Ltd.), Bianca Lee (Managing Director in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia of Consumer Goods Department of Warner Bros), Jeffrey Godsick (President of Consumer Goods Department of 20th Century Fox), Mark Caplan (President, Consumer Products of Sony Pictures),and Xie Dongjun (Managing Director, China of Zinc Group Australia). Moreover, about 400 representatives from domestic well-known cinema circuits, film studios, major suppliers, product R&D and design companies were invited to attend the summit. The forum conducted discussions on the development trends of Chinese film derivative industry, the market difference between domestic and foreign film derivative products and the development and copyright protection of Chinese film derivative products.

　　The two forums were very popular. Seats fell short of demand at the scene. Many participants stood in the hallway, listening from the beginning to the end.

　　Careful arrangements guarantee orderly activities

　　To make sure activities to be carried out in an orderly way, BJIFF Organizing Committee has made corresponding plans, and formed a unified directing system. Hundreds of units, in accordance with the requirement of division of responsibilities, supported each other, cooperated closely, and formed resultant force, which greatly enhanced the organization and service assurance level of the festival. Organizing Committee Office carefully refined security contingency plans, with security requirements in task arrangement and security contingency plans in carrying out the work, and continuously improved the security level. Staff of Security Department repeatedly strengthened practice. In key aspects including security, traffic dispersion, and emergency treatment, they made sure that there were no dead ends and breaches. As a result of the careful planning, attentive security, and orderly organization, no safety accidents occurred during the festival so far.