On October 28, the first Pingyao International Film Festival opened grandly at the Pingyao Film Palace in the ancient city of Pingyao.

Wu Yusen, the top director of Chinese films, Feng Xiaogang, a member of the Pingyao Film Art Advisory Group, Fan Bingbing, the image ambassador of the first Pingyao International Film Festival, Wang Zhongjun and Vice President Ye Ning of Huayi Brothers Media Co., Ltd., Chinese actors Li Chen, Zhao Tao, Song Dandan, Miao Miao, Zhong Chuxi, as well as Maria Ruggieri, the film selector of the Italian Venice Film Festival, and Juan Manuel, the cultural counselor of the Argentine Embassy. Many senior practitioners in the film industry, including Cortelletti, Chairman of China Film Distribution Co., Ltd. Fu Ruoqing, and FIRST Youth Film Festival curator Duan Lian, came to the Pingyao Film Palace to do their best to promote the first Pingyao International Film Festival.

Hot screenings of classics are king

Highlights from international perspectives appear frequently

The opening day was also the first day of screenings. Movie fans and media gathered at the box office of Pingyao Film Palace early in the morning. The screening activities lasted from 9 am to 12 pm. A total of 16 movies were screened in 4 cinemas throughout the day, and the venues were full.

Paying tribute to classics became the emotional focus of the day's screening. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Melville's birth. The first Pingyao International Film Festival specially held the "Jean-Pierre Melville Centenary Birth Retrospective" to pay tribute to the father of the New Wave. Among the 10 newly restored films in the screening list, half can be seen in front of the audience today. Director John Woo, who was deeply influenced by Melville, also specially brought a restored version of the classic film "A Better Tomorrow" for review, and held face-to-face interactive discussions with fans at the screening. Fans cheered: "It's so worth it. I only knew there would be interactive discussions at the scene before, but I didn't expect Director Wu to come in person!"

In addition, the Spanish film "Summer of 1993" won the Best Debut Award in the "New Generation" section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival; the Chinese film "February in the Small Town" won the second Palme d'Or for a Chinese film after "Farewell My Concubine"; and won the 70th Cannes Film Festival. The Chinese film "The Rider", which received the highest award of the "Art Film Award" in the "Directors' Fortnight" of the Nasdaq Film Festival, has received a lot of attention, which can be said to be a highlight.

The four press conferences were in full swing

The film selection team escorted

On the morning of the 28th, the press center in the Pingyao Film Palace welcomed the film. Come to the first press conference. Accompanied by the film festival's artistic director Mark Mueller and film selector Sandra Hebron, Zhao Ting, a rising star in the film industry who is the screenwriter, director and producer of the film "The Rider", attended the press conference together with the film's cinematographer Joshua James Richards. La Hebron gave the film high recognition. The main creator elaborated and discussed issues such as the image of cowboys from a female perspective and the director's control of non-professional actors taking the lead. It is understood that Zhao Ting's family members, her mother Song Dandan and her brother Batu, also came to the film show to cheer her on.

That afternoon, Anurag Kashyap, the director of the Indian film "Boxer's Love", and Dipti Dikkuniya, the film selector, attended the press conference. As a director with a high reputation in India, Anurag said that although India has a large population, its performance in sports competition has always lagged behind, so he chose to shoot A story about a failed athlete, I hope it can arouse everyone's resonance and reflection.

Afterwards, the famous director Feng Xiaogang also held a press conference at the Pingyao Film Palace. In addition to expressing his gratitude to the film festival and Jia Zhangke himself, Director Feng also said: "I have a feeling that the Pingyao International Film Festival will become a very influential film festival in China and the world. ”

For today'sFeng Xiaogang is very optimistic about the film market. He said: "Now more and more Chinese audiences are beginning to pay attention to some heavy realistic themes. This is a very fortunate thing for all film directors. It makes us more enthusiastic to shoot some meaningful films." As for his advice to young directors, Feng Xiaogang said frankly humorously: "When I was filming my first movie, the situation in all aspects was far worse than it is now. Many movie theaters were demolished and converted into bathing pools, foot washing shops, and nightclubs... Now the support funds and market environment are much better than what we had back then. This is a good era. I hope young directors will not be easily defeated."

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Fan Bingbing attended the "First Pingyao Image Ambassador" press conference accompanied by the film festival chairman Jia Zhangke. As early as May this year, at the Pingyao International Film Festival's promotion meeting in Cannes, France, Fan Bingbing, who is currently serving as a judge for the main competition unit of the 70th Cannes, came to express her support. Talking about her feelings as an image ambassador this time, Fan Bingbing said: "Seeing such a list of screenings, I want to tell people all over China that the Pingyao International Film Festival is a film festival that will not disappoint you. If I have expectations for the film festival, I hope it can become a century-old film festival." In an emotional moment, Fan Bingbing even said: "The Pingyao International Film Festival is a very special, young, powerful, and cool film festival. Not only this year, next year, and even every year in the future, I will join and support the Pingyao International Film Festival."

Stars shine at the opening The theater is unique

At the opening party that night, Fan Bingbing took the stage to appeal to the audience at the scene and in front of the TV to jointly promote the development of Chinese films. Singers Zhou Bichang, He Jie, Huang Xu, Bai Ruoxi, and Chana took turns joining the ceremony with their music, attracting countless flashes of light. The Jia Zhangke Art Center took advantage of this moment of global attention to award the "Outstanding Honor for East-West Exchange" to director John Woo, who has continuously contributed to film cultural exchanges. The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) also used the opening ceremony of the Pingyao International Film Festival to award the "Contribution Award for Copyright Protection of Audition Works" to the China Directors Association. Feng Xiaogang, as the vice president of the China Film Directors Association, took the stage to express his gratitude. At the end of the party, Feng Xiaogang took the stage again and led the actors and creators of his new film to the finale, whetting the appetite of movie fans and setting off another climax at the scene.

It is worth mentioning that the venue for this opening night is a sunken open-air square that can accommodate 1,500 spectators, known as the "Platform-Amphitheatre". The square is oval-shaped and lies in the center of the Pingyao Film Palace. It has a screen area of 240 square meters and is equipped with a full set of Dolby equipment. Among them, the theater's thoughtful electric heating floor heating system makes movie fans deep in the open-air theater exclaim "conscience of details", and they can watch with peace of mind. There is no need to worry about movies. In the next few days, this place will also become one of the screening venues, giving movie fans an extraordinary viewing experience.

Momo Night will start after the opening film and become the last event of the day. As the chief sponsor of the first Pingyao International Film Festival, Momo expressed its hope that with this in-depth cooperation, it can promote the growth of more young directors and provide blood to the Chinese film industry.

It is reported that the first Pingyao International Film Festival will be held from October 28th to November 4th at the Pingyao Film Palace in the ancient city of Pingyao, Shanxi. Various activities including film screenings, academic exchanges, master lectures, and theme exhibitions have now officially begun From now on, dozens of outstanding film works from 18 countries and regions and some of their main creators will meet with the audience at the Pingyao Film Palace. I believe that in the coming week, filmmakers and movie fans will gain endless new experiences in the ancient capital of Pingyao.