Everlasting BJIFF on Campus—“Birth of A Film” Young Director Workshop
The new semester is starting soon. Colleges and universities are welcoming newly enrolled students in the refreshing early fall. In order to let freshmen majoring in film and television better understand the entire process of filmmaking, cultivate the new force of Chinese film, and provide high-quality resources for filmmaking practice and teaching, the BJIFF Organizing Committee and Television School of the Communication University of China are joining hands to organize short film screenings and a workshop on the campus on September 11, during which directors that participated in the BJIFF Project Pitches and BJIFF TALENTS, and won the Vision Youth Awards will host a talk.
Jointly organized by the BJIFF Organizing Committee, Vision Youth Awards and Television School, the “Birth of A Film” Young Director Workshop serves as the first project of the Everlasting BJIFF on Campus series. It aims to focus on young directors’ filmmaking and encourage more diversity in their films.
Poster of the “Birth of A Film” Young Director Workshop
Time: 6:30-8:30PM, September 11
Venue: 4K Screening Hall, 2F, Library
Theme: Birth of A Film
(The workshop will discuss how students can make short films, and launch their works on the market through film festivals)
Films to be screened:
Like Father and Son (introductory film)
The Chamber of Memories
Eye in the Sky
Pink Flag
Like Father and Son (introductory film)▍ directed by Bai Zhiqiang
Brief introduction: The only son of truck driver Gou Ren (played by Hui Wangjun) died young of illness. But Gou Ren believes that his best friend is to blame. Filled with grief and anger, he starts a journey of revenge. But he runs into naughty Maodou (played by Bai Zeze) on the way. Without relatives, Maodou is determined to find his father, who’s working elsewhere. Maodou makes a mess of the truck. In order to claim compensation for the goods, Gou Ren has no choice but to take Maodou with him, and they embark on a hilarious journey of father search.
The naughty kid keeps getting into trouble, and the devil adult provokes trouble all the way; in the extremely cold winter, the lonely kid and adult get closer to each other as they go through hardship together.
Poster of the Like Father and Son
The film won the 23rd SIFF Asian New Talent Award; the FIRST Alibaba Pictures Xinhuo Project Award and FIRST Bridging the Dragon Special Award in Xining; the Outstanding WIP Project Award at the 10th BJIFF; and the “Special Jury Award” at the 7th Silk Road International Film Festival.
The Chamber of Memories▍a short film directed by Dong Mingxing at the BJIFF TALENTS
Brief introduction: The short film presents a future where mankind can upload and download their cognition by means of AI and other technologies, and makes it possible to “come back to life”. It focuses on the question of whether love is still meaningful when a human being falls into love with an emotionless AI.
Poster of The Chamber of Memories
Eye in the Sky▍directed by Phakpa
Brief introduction: There is a Tibetan village amidst high-rise mountains. One day, the cattle of the old village mayor Wangdan disappears. While in search of the cattle, the whole village is implicated by Wangdan into an absurd drama beyond words.
Poster of the Eye in the Sky
The Eye in the Sky won the Outstanding Project Award and Director with Greatest Potential Award at the 35th Golden Rooster Films Project Market; the Humanism Award at the 6th PYIFF; Best Short Drama from the Selection Committee of the 14th Chinese Youth Film Week; Outstanding Short Film of the Wings 2020 Cross-Strait Youth Short Film Season at the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards; Special Award of the Department of Directing and Special Jury Award at the 8th Student Director Awards of the Beijing Film Academy; Best Short Drama at the 10th CSFF Kingbonn Awards; and the Best Short Drama at the 18th Vision Youth Awards; and it was shortlisted into the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF).
Pink Flag▍directed by Wu Xichen
Brief introduction: Ten-year-old girl Shuyan is told by her mom that she will return with “materials” before she disappears. She looks for the “materials” everywhere until she sees kids in the village are praised by everyone as having “materials” when they grad the pink flag on a wedding. So she dashes and defies any hardship to grab the pink flag. But she becomes even more confused...
Poster of the Pink Flag
The Pink Flag won the Film of the Year and Best Drama Director awards at the 20th Vision Youth Awards; recommendation by Dai Jinhua, annual recommender of the 17th FIRST; Best Film award at the 7th Xiying Light My Fire Young Film Festival; and it was a finalist of the 12th BJIFF ReelFocus Program.
Bai Zhiqiang
Deputy Director of the Shaanxi Film Industry Association
Award presenter at the 9th Silk Road International Film Festival
Born in Shaanxi in 1983, graduated from the photography major at the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts.
His representative works include the Like Father and Son, The Blind Storytellers, Daoqing, The Soul of Folk Songs, My People, My Homeland—The Way Back to Hometown (executive director)
Dong Mingxing
Director/Art Director
14 years of working experience, VFX director of Wu Hai, Prince of Tennis, and The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful among other films.
Awards: Best Visual Effects at the 2020 Taipei Film Festival, nominee for the Best Visual Effects at the 58th Golden Horse Awards; 12th BJIFF TALENTS
Phakpa
Writer/director
His feature film project Eye in the Sky won the Outstanding Project Award and Director with Greatest Potential Award at the 35th Golden Rooster Films Project Market and the Humanism Award at the 6th PYIFF.
Wu Xichen
Director
Born in 1997 in Jinzhou, Hebei Province, master’s degree of filmmaking program (enrolled in 2020) at the School of Film and Television, Communication University of China, creator of the Bilibili channel “CUC Baby Wu”. During his undergraduate and postgraduate programs, Wu won the national scholarship two times, first-prize scholarship a few times, and title of the “Graduate of Honor in Beijing”.
His representative works include the short film Pink Flag, Deafness, The Square, Rainbow Color Detection and Cotton Core.
Shi Qi
Postgraduate enrolled in the radio and television program at the Television School, Communication University of China, in 2023
Debut documentary The Days after Junior College won the Best Documentary at the 20th Vision Youth Awards and 9th China-EU Youth Film Festival.
As one of Freshmen Orientation series, the event is only open to newly enrolled undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Television School, Communication University of China.
The Young Director Workshop held at 6:30PM on September 11 will help answer your doubts and questions about filmmaking. See you then!