Let’s Look Forward to Blooming Next Spring
The Beijing International Film Festival 2023 Brand Sharing Conference organized by the BJIFF Organizing Committee Office was concluded at the Cineaste Garden Hotel, Huairou District, Beijing, on November 8. Guests present included Zhang Yushan, Chief of New Media Division, Publicity Department, All-China Women’s Federation, Lin Siwei, Deputy Head of the China Film Archive, Liu Chun, General Manager of China Film Group Film Import & Export Corporation, Deng Yong, Deputy Chief of the Film and Television Division, Publicity Department of Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, Han Bing, Director of Beijing Film Industry Development Center and Chairman of Beijing Film Society, Zhou Jingbo, Secretary General of Beijing Film Society, Cui Yan and Hao Jie, Director and Deputy Director of the BJIFF Operations Center of Beijing Radio & Television Station, renowned film producer Fu Jia, and actress Tan Zhuo and Lou Yixiao. Besides there were approximately 200 representatives from domestic and international top brands, namely Burberry, Huawei, Canon, Maoyan, iQIYI, Bank of Beijing and A.R.T. Furniture, Markor Furnishings, and film and television and advertising companies, including the Motion Picture Association of America, China Poly Group Corporation Limited, Beijing Cultural Investment Development Group Co., Ltd., Popular Movies, Zhongyi Daguan (Beijing) Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., Fish Republic, Premiere Consulting Group, Tiandingheyi Brand Design Co., Ltd., Guge Pictures and Media Co., Ltd., WishMedia, Xiyoudu Media, Focus Media, IMAX, Legendary Pictures, Inc., Meridian Entertainment, Dawa Technology and Bobocorn.
As Zhang Shuo, moderator of the conference and Director of the BJIFF Brand Development Department, introduced, with the theme of Huaxin (meaning “news about blooming”), the brand sharing conference was held on the day of the Start of Winter (one of the 24 solar terms in lunar calendar), inviting friends from various communities to hear news of blooming next spring in advance. Over the last few years, the BJIFF has been significantly improved in terms of its scale, engagement of guests, innovative forms of organization and effects of communication. So has our confidence in the BJIFF organization. Moving forward, the BJIFF will work on four keywords of its brand identity regarding brand partnership: International Exchange Center, incubation of young talents, powerhouse for trending topics, and prime choice for new launches.
The conference presented new forms and highlights of the 14th BJIFF: Female Film Section, Film+Music, new talent training system, Game-Based Animated Films Section and Artistic Innovation Section.
Renowned film producer Fu Jia gave a solemn introduction to the foremost section—Female Film Section. She emphasized that females are playing an increasingly prominent role in the film industry in the new era. Along with the discovery and training of female filmmakers, and more female-themed films with higher quality, females are contributing their unique talent and efforts to filmmaking. At the same time, she announced the overall plan and specific activities of the Female Film Section, and drew vast interest of the guests present.
Hao Jie, Deputy Director of the BJIFF Operations Center, briefed the guests present on the seven stages of BJIFF’s new talent training system and previous successful cases. The 13th BJIFF Project Pitches received 874 valid projects and WIPs. Outstanding projects, such as My Beloved Bodyguard, Mountain Cry, Seventy-seven Days, Till the End of the World, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains and The Cord of Life, were successfully incubated via the BJIFF Project Pitches, and earned over RMB 1.7 billion of gross box office. Excellent young directors, such as Larry Yang, Gu Xiaogang, Xu Lei, Liu Xiang and Qiao Sixue, entered the film industry and became known to film fans through BJIFF’s platform. Young directors incubated at the BJIFF are shining around the world. We wish that more young filmmakers can join us, and explore possibilities of the “new blood”. While giving an overview of the highlights and outlook on the new talent training system, she expressed the idea, “We should work out actual issues that young filmmakers have one-on-one, and enhance their attachment to the BJIFF. The offline activities of the young filmmaker training program are also part of the Everlasting BJIFF series, aimed to help young filmmakers and expand the reach of the BJIFF.”
Meanwhile, a new program is added to the 14th BJIFF: Yanqi Lake International Film & Music Festival. The event will fully integrate film and music elements, and make it the very first cultural program to combine film and music festivals in China. The festival is scheduled to be held for two to three sessions in late April 2024, with over 15,000 participants present per session. As for its lineup, we are devoted to inviting big names in the film and music communities, and delivering powerful collaboration between filmmakers and singers.
Actress Lou Yixiao introduced the Game-Based Animated Films Section as its event manager, and emphasized that the section will continue to maximize the platform’s role, gather rising forces and offer guidance on the way forward for young enthusiasts for e-sports, animation and film. The section of the 14th BJIFF is to be upgraded based on successful previous editions. It consists of an opening forum, review and selection of animations, E-sports Celebration for Filmmakers, Red Carpet, Closing Ceremony, Closing Reception, E-sports and Animation Carnival, E-sports and Animation Concert, and Screenings.
Actress and artist Tan Zhuo, the Artistic Innovation Promotion Ambassador and initiator of the BJIFF Artistic Innovation Section, shared with the guests present how she initiated and participated in the section. According to her, “Film is art and a popular form of culture. During a cultural feast in China like the BJIFF, the introduction of masterpieces by top international artists for exchanges and interaction can facilitate the innovative expansion of the film industry, and better promote art to the general public.”
The 14th BJIFF Artistic Innovation Section will be held from April 15 to July 15, 2024 at the west hall of the Workers’ Stadium. The exhibition will invite more artists to display their artworks that fit the theme. And Tan Zhuo’s celebrity friends will be appointed as art promotion volunteers to offer tour guides to the general public during the exhibition so that more people may get to access and know art. Moreover, activities such as conversation with masters and innovative salons will be organized to focus on cutting-edge fields and discuss currently trending topics. A new artistic talent program will be launched, open to creative young talents in art fields related to filmmaking from around the world. The program calls for entries in tracks including graphic and motion graphic design, cinematography, sound, light, art, costume, performance, editing, directing and screenplay, while representatives from those segments will be invited to be jury members. In this way, new blood and possibilities will be brought to the fields of film and television, culture and business. Winners in each tack will set up their cast & crew, and produce short art film with designated themes under the lead of the BJIFF and its Artistic Innovation Section.
During the brand sharing conference, Tan Zhuo also disclosed that she will invite renowned 3D motion graphic designers and digital artists to make a creative short film that combines shooting and CG dedicated to the 14th BJIFF Artistic Innovation Section. In the short film, the Workers’ Stadium will be placed in a futuristic scene, where the audience are guided to explore artistic innovation. What’s more, a behavioral art titled “10-day Club Plan” will be convened. A party will be held concurrently with the exhibition for 24 hours per day for 10 consecutive days. The interaction between lowbrow and highbrow art is thereby presented, further proving to the general public that art is not aloof, and art can have so many forms to provoke thoughts and innovation.
In addition, Lin Siwei, Deputy Secretary-General of the BJIFF Organizing Committee and Deputy Head of the China Film Archive, Liu Chun, General Manager of China Film Group Film Import & Export Corporation, and Cui Yan, Executive Deputy Director of the BJIFF Organizing Committee and Director of the BJIFF Operations Center of Beijing Radio & Television Station, presented letters of appointment to brand partnership consultants.
Li Xiaohang, Vice General Manager of the Beijing International Film Festival Co., Ltd., and Yuan Pei, General Manager of the General Business Development Department of the Maoyan Entertainment, which is the partner with the BJIFF and official exclusive ticketing platform for the BJIFF Beijing Film Panorama, signed a framework agreement on brand partnership.
Last but not least, Cui Yan expressed heartfelt gratitude to all the guests present. We are about to enter the year 2024 in two months. It’s the year of dragon, which is also the logo of Chinese films. The year 2000, also the year of dragon, marked the grand opening year of Chinese films with the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; the year 2012, also the year of dragon, witnessed the release of China’s first 1-billion earner—Lost in Thailand. In the same year, the “Beijing International Film Season” was officially renamed “Beijing International Film Festival”, and took off with skyrocketing growth. We are confident that China’s film industry will be get off to a great start and attain remarkable results next year. The BJIFF will keep its feet on the ground, devote itself to China’s film industry, and further build an industry platform for exchanges. With huge support and wide engagement of friends from various communities around the world, the BJIFF Organizing Committee Office will stick to new standards, heights and goals, and develop the BJIFF into a cultural feast featuring international horizon, Chinese style and Beijing characteristics.
Corporate representatives attending the brand sharing conference also visited booths on the site, and enjoyed in-depth exchanges with colleagues in charge of departments under the BJIFF Organizing Committee Office.
The successful conclusion of the conference injected robust momentum into the prosperity of the film industry and deep integration of brand partnerships. Every April, filmmakers at home and abroad are gathered in Beijing just like migratory birds. We look forward to more partners, filmmakers and fans joining us in BJIFF’s spring rendezvous every year.