The Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) has never been short of art films with small and medium budget. As one of the permanent units of "Beijing Film Panorama" of the BJIFF, the "Chinese New Wave" section continues to focus on the works of young Chinese filmmakers (who are also the main creation force of films with small and medium budget), and has become an important platform to explore and promote young filmmakers and films with small and medium budget.

On the evening of April 21, Journey to the West, a film that has become increasingly popular since its release on April 1 this year, had a special screening at the 13th BJIFF at MEGABOX (Sanlitun).

Journey to the West tells the story of Tang Zhijun (Yang Haoyu), an editor-in-chief of a sci-fi magazine, Universe Exploration, which was established in 1980s. As the business of magazines has gradually declined, and Tang Zhijun feels very sad and depressed. However, he is still obsessed to look for alien’s civilizations as usual. One day, he unexpectedly receives an abnormal signal suspected of being sent from the depths of the universe, so he calls on his former partners to embark on the journey of looking for aliens once again with the doubt confusing him all the time. Director Kong Dashan balances black humor with tragedy in the plot, creating a sound and visual expression that combines fantasy with reality.

After the screening, the cast & crew including director Kong Dashan, literary planner Lyu Qiyang, production designer Guo Xinbo, sound director Zhang Guodong, editing director Hu Shuzhen, photography director Matthias Delvaux and Tan Tian, Sichuan outreach producer and player of the black taxi driver in the film, conducted a warm post-screening communication with the audience.

There were many fans in the audience who had watched the movie many times. They expressed their feelings and actively asked questions to the cast & crew, trying their best to find out the fun and behind-the-scenes stories of the cast & crew, which continued the idea of "curiosity is good", the line of the movie. The cast & crew also patiently answered the audience's questions from various aspects such as cinematography, script writing, site selection, character interpretation and prop design.

In recent years, with the strong support of various national policies, the proportion of art films with small and medium budget in the number of film production has been increasing year by year. Not only are they an important complement to creative diversity, but they are also becoming an important force in the film market, and Journey to the West is one of them. At present, the four screenings of the film at the BJIFF (including the BCSFF) have been sold out. On April 24, the cast & crew will appear at the New United Films Jinbao Palace Cinema after the screening for the meet-and-greet. Don't miss it!