Lu Chuan said that he could full feel the true love of filmmakers and audiences for the film when shooting the Main Trailer for the BJIFF. The filmmakers arouse the most real resonance in the audience through their most sincere expression of "who wants to watch a movie”. 

On August 7, the 12th BJIFF Main Trailer was officially released. The video, directed by Lu Chuan and starring by Li Xuejian, Song Jia, Qi Xi and Huang Xuan (in the order of ages) , expresses the public passion for the film with the simplest and most sincere words “who wanna watch a movie?”. 

The Main Trailer is only 1 minute and 39 seconds long, but it has attracted countless audience. Lu Chuan said that he felt lucky to have the chance to cooperate with the four actors who love films sincerely, to meet with the audience who “love films most” and to express the “purest and most sincere” emotion. 

After the release of the Main Trailer, many audience responded “we wanna watch a movie” after being “touched by the true emotions in the video”. The reporter of The Beijing News exclusively interviewed Lu Chuan and asked him to tell us how the cast & crew could product such a wonderful and emotional video within only 10 days of preparation and 2 days of shooting. 

　　Behind the Scene of the 12th BJIFF Main Trailer

　

Lu Chuan seems to be doomed to serve as the director of the Main Trailer of the 12th BJIFF. At the very beginning, he was once hesitant because the time was so limited for such an important task, especially it was a cultural event which would attract all the professionals of film industry as well as all the film fans nationwide. To accept the task meant he must produce it perfect. 

Lu Chuan finally decided to accept the task due to the sense of responsibility to the film industry deeply rooted in his mind. “I am a native of Beijing and a child of this city, so it’s my responsibility to help with the promotion of the film festival held in my hometown. Moreover, the film industry suffered a lot from the COVID-19 pandemic in the past years. It’s really not easy for the film industry and the dear audience. As a filmmaker, I should do something and I really want to say — Movie lovers won’t get lost. I hope we can go back to the cinema to embrace the film, that’s my true feeling as a director.” 

　　BJIFF Main Trailer Cast

Once he decided to accept the task, Lu Chuan turned to many excellent planners and partners for a brainstorm. They heatedly talked about what kind of creation to be adopted so as to present the intention of the audience as well as themselves. 。

“My team came up with at least 30 ideas, which were over 30 stories completely separate and different from each other. However, all the team members believed that we should focus on the passion and eagerness for the film after careful consideration. Every planner and every creator agreed on the proposition. In addition, many young filmmakers joined our team this time, all the directors, producers, screenwriters and actors, no matter where they come from or what post they are working at, everyone agreed that the words ‘who wanna watch a movie?’ can perfectly reflect the current situation with most exciting effect.” 

Although the film shooting was disrupted and might be delayed during the pandemic, Lu Chuan and his team “never stopped production despite any difficulties”. He insisted that they should keep a positive attitude in the face of any troubles. ”During the pandemic, we have not never stopped the video production. In the days when we could not go out for shooting, we locked ourselves in the computer room for post-production. We are always ready to conduct the creation and shooting once again from the very beginning.” 

Once the theme was confirmed and the team was established, Lu Chuan decided to "produce the promo video with the same efforts of making a film”. In his eyes, film shooting seemed to be more like an extravagant hope. As long as he had the chance to start the machine, it was always a happiness and he would never care about the duration of the film. “No matter how long the video is, we should try our best. We need to shoot the video in high spirit not only in the forms but also with the most professional standards in every aspect. The conventional films generally have 90 minutes or two hours for you to express the theme, but the Main Trailer has only a limited duration as long as one minute or ten seconds, so it’s more difficult to shoot. We cannot afford wasting every second or every frame, so we must try our best.” 

In the face of the tight schedule and heavy workload, the BJIFF Organizing Committee quickly moved to contact four "actors with passion on films" — Li Xuejian, Song Jia, Qi Xi, Huang Xuan (in the order of ages). They dedicated the most emotional performance through their most sincere expressions. 

　　Li Xuejian plays projectionist in the Main Trailer of the BJIFF

In the Main Trailer, the projectionist (Li Xuejian) is moved in tears when he sees the audience returning to the cinema. Huang Xuan runs through the crowds in Sanlitun, Beijing, distributing fliers and chanting "Who wanna watch a movie?” Song Jia calls on all the people for a movie in Nanluogu Alley. Qi Xi comes to the crowded vegetable market and asks anxiously, "Who wanna watch a movie?” … Their appeals have brought the most sincere feedback from the audience. Regardless of gender, age or occupation, many ordinary people who still love films respond with enthusiasm, "I wanna watch a movie". The footage of only tens of seconds has greatly moved the audience. 

“All the actors in the promo video are my good friends. Li Xuejian is an old friend of mine and his performance in the video is full of the expectations and passion of an old filmmaker for the industry. As a senior professional in the film industry, he is very clear about the distance and relationship between an actor and the camera. For example, we adopted some close-up shots this time and he also made corresponding fine adjustment of his performance in detail because he knows very well how to present the performance. I can fully feel the professionalism and attitude of Mr. Li and it’s also a chance and enjoyment for me to learn from him.” 

　　Song Jia plays a young film enthusiast in the Main Trailer of the BJIFF 

Lu Chuan said that he was fully encouraged due to the assistance of the four actors who deeply loved film during the creation process. They all represented the “spirit” of Chinese film and everyone tried to cheer up for the film industry with their own ways. “They are all full of passion and expectation on film. The film industry suffered from setbacks in the past years, but it was all the filmmakers with pursuit, dream, ideal as well as professional excellence and moral integrity that greatly promote the film to grow smoothly. They have presented the most positive, purest and warmest aspect of the industry.” 

Lu Chuan has produced lots of promo films and short videos in the past years and every film shooting seems a practice and creation for him. In the eyes of the outsiders, many promo films about the theme expression are more like the propositional compositions. However, he holds the different opinion. He said that every short video and story must present a different creative expression, and each theme should have inspirational effect. 

“As we can see, the theme of the Main Trailer of the BJIFF, 'who wanna watch a movie’ is a very spiritual depiction. I can feel the true love of filmmakers and audiences for films during the daily life and work. When talking about the way of life (watch movie), I am very excited and I hope to convey the passion to the audience. Since film turns out to be an emotional exchange, I hope to arouse the resonance with the audience through the most sincere expression of a filmmaker.” Lu Chuan said that he would appreciate so many excellent teams to provide assistance in the film production. Without them, he could never shoot such an excellent Main Trailer. “From the organizing committee to the cast, from the photographer to the producer, many of them are good friends I have ever cooperated with. They all come with enthusiasm when they know it’s for the BJIFF. They worked very hard and the went out to check the scene in the most scorching sunlight in Beijing. Everyone hoped to present the most beautiful and typical Beijing style and the most genuine life of the citizens to all the audiences all over the world."

　　Director Lu Chuan shooting the Main Trailer of the BJIFF

Lu Chuan has also tried many “firsts” in the trailer shooting. Abiding by the epidemic prevention and control policy, the cast also focused on many rare scenes, such as Taigu Lane in Sanlitun and Nanluogu Alley, where they captured the most real emotion of the grassroots. 

“As far as I know, very few film shootings can be arranged in Sanlitun. Thanks to the coordination of the organizing committee, we could shoot the video over there and embrace the audience we have never met before. The audiences in Taigu Lane that day were so enthusiastic that their smiling faces were all recorded, it’s really such an amazing experience for me.” Lu Chuan said. Apart from the vibrant youngsters, the lane was also full of hustle and bustle. “During the process of creation, I came up the idea of shooting in the vegetable market. Many colleagues didn’t think the people in the market could become our target audience, but I insisted that they must have their own demands. As a result, we randomly interviewed many senior citizens, many of them said that they really loved watching movies although they hadn’t enjoyed it for long. Even the youngster on the basketball court also shouted they loved film. We recorded all the most sincere expressions. The performance of all the grassroots is so authentic that they are the most impressive."