The Shanghai Worldwide Movie Competition is about to launch its twenty seventh version in grand model, commemorating 120 years of Chinese language cinema with a lineup filled with international expertise, sold-out screenings and impressive business conversations.
Nearly from the second film cameras first began whirring in China, filmmakers have flocked to Shanghai. Though Beijing boasts the nation’s first movie (1905’s The Battle of Dingjunshan), Shanghai undeniably stays the center of China’s tradition industries. The nation’s first main movie studios emerged on this sprawling metropolis within the Nineteen Twenties, and its cinematic ardour stays palpable. There are cinemas all over the place — round 400 within the metropolis alone — and annually the general public flocks to this landmark 10-day occasion.
Operating June 13-22, SIFF will display greater than 400 movies throughout roughly 1,500 showings, and the passion from audiences has been speedy. Chen Guo, managing director of the pageant’s organizing physique, Shanghai Worldwide Movie & TV Occasions Middle, tells The Hollywood Reporter, “Ninety-two movies and over 600 screenings had been offered out inside an hour of tickets occurring sale on June 5.”
The most popular ticket on the town yearly is the closing-day screening of no matter movie wins the pageant’s Golden Goblet Award for Greatest Director — a quirk that’s turned custom, with nobody figuring out what they’re going to see till the award ceremony on the ultimate day. In response to Chen, tickets for the thriller screening this yr disappeared in “simply 26 seconds.”
The Golden Goblet competitions characteristic 49 movies throughout 5 classes, with 12 movies competing in the principle class. As standard, the lineup boasts a robust native presence (together with multi-award winner Cao Baoping’s One Wacky Summer time), in addition to options from afar afield as Kyrgyzstan (Aktan Arym Kubat’s Black Purple Yellow) and Brazil (Flavia Castro’s Cyclone).
Italian Oscar-winner Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) chairs the principle jury. The pageant opens with Peter Chan Ho-sun’s She’s Acquired No Identify, a Cannes choice set in Forties Shanghai, starring celebrity Zhang Ziyi, who is anticipated to grace the pink carpet.
Different highlights embrace the Asian New Expertise part, traditionally a launchpad for filmmakers of future acclaim, reminiscent of China’s Ning Hao and Tibet’s Pema Tseden, and a David Lynch retrospective that includes Eraserhead, Misplaced Freeway, and Mulholland Drive — reportedly the pageant’s second-fastest sellout.
After all, there might be no escaping the swirling uncertainties surrounding the modern movie enterprise. The business sidebar SIFF Discussion board has a sequence of panels tackling hot-button points like synthetic intelligence’s position in filmmaking. Moreover, the occasion’s Worldwide Movie Market will merge with the Shanghai TV Marketplace for the primary time, operating June 21-25.
THR sat down with Chen on the eve of the pageant to debate the imaginative and prescient and ambition for this yr’s version.
How has SIFF developed lately, and what’s its present position inside China and internationally?
SIFF has turn into an vital pageant in Asia and even globally. Movie has all the time been an vital medium for cultural trade, in order a big worldwide movie pageant, SIFF has endured in utilizing movie as a hyperlink to constantly deepen the trade and mutual studying between movie cultures throughout varied nations, ethnic teams and areas. This yr’s Golden Goblet Awards jury consists of 21 jurors from 13 nations and areas throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe. The broad distribution of nations and areas pretty represents the varied panorama of world movie cultures, and we’ve striven to make the jury course of extra globally oriented and culturally inclusive. Chinese language cinema has gone by means of a wonderful journey of 120 years since its delivery in 1905. Standing at this vital historic mark, filmmakers have many points to contemplate. Subsequently, this yr’s movie pageant will additional mixture business forces, increase companions, and centrally show quite a lot of high-quality movies which might be about to be launched or underneath preparation and manufacturing, demonstrating the optimistic momentum of the business.
What excites you most about this yr’s pageant?
Whereas our programming groups have deep respect for the century-long journey of Chinese language cinema, what excites me much more at this pageant is forward-looking initiatives reminiscent of SIFF ING youth-focused program and the sturdy momentum constructing for Chinese language-language movies. I’m additionally paying shut consideration to the synergy between know-how and creativity. This yr, the pageant has established a devoted discussion board on the appliance of AIGC within the movie and tv business, bringing collectively modern creators from all over the world to discover rising developments. This initiative not solely responds to the business’s sturdy curiosity in new applied sciences but additionally underscores SIFF’s proactive and insightful position in shaping the way forward for the movie ecosystem.
‘One Wacky Summer time’
Courtesy of Shanghai Worldwide Movie Competition
As an business insider, I’m glad to welcome all of the visitors to the brand new Worldwide Movie and TV Market, which totally integrates the movie market and the TV marketplace for the primary time. This evolution is not going to solely foster higher trade amongst content material suppliers and platforms but additionally, by means of specialised sections targeted on style and area, strengthen ties with rising markets in Southeast Asia and Central and Japanese Europe. It alerts expanded alternatives for Chinese language movie and tv to achieve “visibility” on a broader worldwide stage.
There seems to be some thrilling rising Chinese language expertise on show this yr. What are you able to share concerning the modern scene and the alternatives for this technology of filmmakers in China in the present day?
I firmly imagine that in the present day’s technology of rising Chinese language filmmakers is experiencing an unprecedented golden period. SIFF positions itself as “rooted in Asia, specializing in Chinese language-language movies, and supporting new skills,” adhering to the philosophy of being main, skilled and worldwide. An vital manifestation of our skilled management is the cultivation and incubation {of professional} skills. We’re seeing younger filmmakers having fun with higher freedom in relation to selecting themes and adopting views which might be each socially aware and deeply private. That is because of the maturing and rising diversification of the general business atmosphere. An instance is the SIFF Mission business sidebar’s new “Style Movie Mission” part, which is about to encourage younger filmmakers to innovate inside style frameworks, guaranteeing their work combines expressive depth with market viability. In the meantime, cutting-edge applied sciences like AIGC are more and more embraced by younger creators — not as gimmicks however as instruments to discover new frontiers of cinematic expression. By means of devoted boards and program items, SIFF actively promotes this integration, and I’m assured of their inventive potential with new media languages.
Are you able to share some tips about what we needs to be watching in Shanghai over the approaching 10 days?
It’s arduous to decide on, however I counsel that everybody can concentrate on three Chinese language-language movies shortlisted for the principle competitions. Qiu Sheng, director of My Father’s Son, returns after profitable the Greatest Dwell-Motion Quick Movie Award on the twenty fourth SIFF along with his sci-fi quick Tune of Life. Cao Baoping, director of One Wacky Summer time, is a former winner underneath our Asian New Expertise part [2015’s The Dead End] and was additionally the jury president for that part final yr. The opposite movie I’d prefer to level folks in direction of is Wild Nights, Tamed Beasts, which is the debut characteristic movie of director Wang Tong. These administrators are all Chinese language filmmakers we’ve lengthy paid consideration to, and we additionally hope that the worldwide viewers and media may give them extra consideration.
How is the pageant addressing the present challenges dealing with the Chinese language movie business?
With the worldwide warmth of Ne Zha 2, Chinese language cinema in 2025 kicked off with a exceptional begin. Nevertheless, Chinese language filmmakers have a lot to ponder. That’s why we’ve arrange the Golden Goblet Discussion board to collect business knowledge yearly and to debate vital transformations within the improvement of the movie business, hoping this can present inspiration and meals for thought to filmmakers. Movie is not only a type of artwork; it’s changing into a brand new engine to advertise consumption and drive financial progress. Thus, just like the SIFF itself, the Golden Goblet Discussion board goals to function an annual platform for mental trade, the place visitors from varied fields provide ideas for the high-quality improvement of Chinese language cinema and search frequent improvement from their respective views. From the day after the opening ceremony to the closing day, there may be not less than one high-profile discussion board every single day. By means of totally different subject settings, we hope to deeply talk about the alternatives and challenges dealing with Chinese language cinema in the present day, in order to foster extra glorious works, enhance the market, and perform cultural exchanges. It will assist Chinese language cinema progress from an preliminary success to steady prosperity.