Walk with Light and Shadow. The line-up of 13th BJIFF Jury of Project Pitches has been officially announced. Peter Chan, a director and producer, will serve as the Jury President. Zhang Ji, a director and screenwriter, Yao Chen, an actress and producer, Wen Muye, a director and screenwriter, and actor Huang Xuan, will make up the Final Jury for Project Pitches.

As an important channel for understanding the industry ecology and searching for high-quality projects, the Project Pitches section has always been highly focused by industry professionals. The members of Final Jury for Project Pitches this year will carry out specific and comprehensive analysis and selection on the pitching projects from the perspective of screenwriting, directing and performing, to help potential projects seize opportunities and promote Chinese young filmmakers to produce high-quality works. 

Peter Chan, a famous director and producer, was born in Hong Kong, China in November 1962. He directed his debut film Alan & Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye in 1991, followed by his other representative works such as Comrades: Almost a Love Story, The Warlords, Bodyguards and Assassins, American Dreams in China, Dearest, Soul Mate, Li Na, etc. He was once praised by the Guangming Daily as "one of the few directors who can achieve a win-win between commercial box office and artistic effects". He has won numerous film awards for his outstanding works, including the 29th Golden Rooster Awards for Best Director, the 16th and 27th Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Director, and the 15th Huabiao Film Awards for Outstanding Overseas Director. He is also the only director who has won the awards across Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Chinese Mainland. In 2020, he directed the film Leap, a biographical film about the Chinese women's volleyball team, which won the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. He has a significant influence in the film industry and served as a jury member of the 5th BJIFF Tiantan Award, a jury member of the competition section at the 69th Venice International Film Festival, and the jury president at the 14th FIRST International Film Festival. 

Zhang Ji, a director and screenwriter, has received numerous awards for his outstanding works, such as the Best Screenplay Award at the 4th BJIFF for his film American Dreams in China and the Best Screenplay Award at the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards for his film Leap. In addition, he served as the screenwriter for Passing By in My People, My Country, the script producer for Coffee or Tea? and the script consultant for Cloudy Mountain. His latest work, Tale of the Night, which he directed for the first time, will be released this year. He persistently creates works that are unique to the local culture with rich patriotism, thus is highly regarded by Chinese audiences. He has received numerous awards, including the Excellent Screenplay Award of the 5th and 6th China Film Association Cup, the Excellent Original Screenplay of the 15th China Huabiao Film Awards and the Best Screenplay of the 21st Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards. He was listed among the 5th China's Excellent Writers and Artists with High Moral Standards and Artistic Competence.    

Yao Chen is an actress and a producer in China, founder of Bad Rabbit Film Co., Ltd. She has starred in many films such as Caught in the Web, Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back, Lost, Found and Send Me to the Clouds. She is dedicated to looking for new talented directors and has collaborated with many young directors. She acts as a producer for many films, including Send Me to the Clouds, Flaming Cloud and The Cord of Life. The film The Cord of Life was incubated from the BJIFF Project Pitches and won the Jury Special Recommendation Award at the 10th BJIFF. She is highly acclaimed in the professional field because she has portrayed many highly popular screen characters with national appeal with her superb acting skills. She won the Annual Actress at the 1st Hainan Island International Film Festival, the Golden Mulberry Award for Outstanding Achievement at the Far East Film Festival, the Film Model at the 30th Singapore International Film Festival. She has also served as a judge for various film and TV festivals including the Taipei Film Festival, the First International Film Festival and the Golden Rooster Project Market. 

Wen Muyang is a director and screenwriter with a strong ability to depict realism. His long maiden work Dying to Survive, written and directed by him, was released in 2018 and earned a box office of 3.1 billion yuan. The film won multiple awards, including the 42nd Montreal World Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay, the 32nd Golden Rooster Awards for Best Directorial Debut, the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Film from Mainland and Taiwan, the 14th Changchun Film Festival Award for Best Young Screenwriter, the Annual Director at the 1st Hainan Island International Film Festival, the Best Young Director of the 10th China Film Directors’ Guild Awards and the Best Director at the 26th Beijing College Student Film Festival. The film Nice View, written and directed by him, received a box office of 1.3 billion during the 2022 Spring Festival and won the Best Works Award for spiritual civilization construction as well as other awards such as the 36th People’s Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Director, the Best Screenplay Award at the 17th Changchun Film Festival, the Favorite Director of Students’ Choice Award at the 29th Beijing College Student Film Festival. 

Huang Xuan is an actor. With his meticulous acting skills and precise portrayal of characters, he has become a highly acclaimed actor among the 1980s generation. He played Xiaoma in the film Blind Massage, and thus won multiple honors and nominations. In 2015, he was invited to act as a jury member of the SIFF Asian New Talent Award. In 2017, the film Youth starring Huang Xuan was screened. He played Liu Feng in the film and was nominated for the second time for the Annual Actor of China Film Directors’ Guild Awards. In the same year, he played Bai Juyi, a Tang dynasty poet, in Chen Kaige's film Legend of the Demon Cat. In 2020, the film Wu Hai starring Huang Xuan was shortlisted for the main competition section of San Sebastian International Film Festival. In 2021, he was awarded the Golden Crane Award for Best Actor for the role of Li Da in the film 1921. In 2022, he cooperated with Zhang Hanyu and Andy Lau to star in the film Operation Moscow; In 2023, he starred in the new film Singpangtra directed by Pema Tseden.

The BJIFF Jury for Project Pitches this year are all internationally renowned professionals with high industry recognition. They will review the projects from professional perspectives and recommend excellent ones to receive filming opportunities and exposure to the public, thus contributing to the future of Chinese film industry.