The Tiantan Award is always a key part of the Beijing International Film Festival. As a member of the international jury committee, Zhang Songwen, an actor with accomplished acting skills, has been receiving intensive attention and hail from fans since the announcement. 

 

 

Zhang Songwen, who was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy at the age of 25 and began his acting career since, is by no means a child star. He confessed that he was not gifted. The reason why he can display amazing roles and stage virtuoso performance is none other than his intensive study and experience accumulated from life. 

 

Zhang had many different professional experiences before becoming an actor, which provided a solid and down-to-earth inspiration for his acting career. In The Bad Kids, Zhang played the role of Zhu Yongping who lost his beloved daughter. In one scene, Zhu ate wonton and that scene received tremendous applause from the audience. In order to present the grief and sorrow of the father, Zhang starved himself for three days and did not sleep. Finally, he was able to show the state of being exhausted and on the verge of collapse. The pain of bereavement cannot only be produced by "acting" alone. When acting, Zhang thought about his late mother and transferred this feeling to the character's emotion to his daughter, thus enriching the character's passion with his own true sentiments. When audiences watch, they can truly feel the temperature of Zhang’s tears.

 

Zhang Songwen says, "I don't know how others act. My method is to use real life experience." This experiential acting method not only tests acting skills, but also an actor's observation and perception of life.

 

In Break Through the Darkness, Zhang played the role of Cao Zhiyuan, a villain. Cao is both a hypocritical county magistrate and a protector of the evil forces. In displaying these two completely different characters, Zhang employs every facial expression and detail, and his performance is deep and vivid.

 

In The Pioneer, Zhang showcased, vividly and thoroughly, Li Dazhao’s character and spirit. In order to restore Li as best as possible, Zhang studied again and again Li’s only speech which is without sound; when shooting the scene in which Li is lame, Zhang put a stone in the sole of the shoe beforehand, so as to strive for the most authentic and complete performance.

 

Thanks to life, Zhang’s performance is always down to earth. This down-to-earth style is concealed in Zhu Yongping's loose collar band, hidden in Tang Yijie's cowardly but fierce eyes, disguised in Gu Jianhua's embarrassed and mediocre dignity, and masked in Zhang Songwen's every frame of performance with texture and delicacy, so that each role is rendered with a convincingly vivid realness.

 

It's not hard to play one role, but it's hard to become the role. As one of the members of the international jury committee for this year's Tiantan Award, Zhang Songwen will bring his understanding of film and performance to the BJIFF, and choose the unrefined talents for films with a professional and sincere attitude, so that more good works will have the opportunity to meet the audience. In September, come and enjoy the world's best films in Beijing!