As one of the three judges of the Financing Forum at this year's Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), Chinese actress Yong Mei said that she saw some impressive art films being presented and encouraged young filmmakers to stay open-minded.

The Financing Forum, a regular section at BJIFF, is aimed at discovering outstanding potential filmmakers and helping their projects become true. A total of 10 projects and six WIP (Working In Progress) projects were pitched at the forum held on Tuesday. 

The other two judges are famous Chinese actor Deng Chao and director Chen Kuo-fu.

"There are plenty of excellent projects this year. Personally, I like art movies. We did see some really good art films this time," Yong said. "I hope we can make films about our traditional culture and how the traditional culture fuses with modern culture."

Born in 1970, Yong graduated from the University of International Business and Economics and went on to become a white-collar worker. She took up a career in acting in 1995 when she was recommended by chance to director Gao Xixi's TV series "Man of Muyun."

In 2019, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival for epic drama "So Long, My Son" directed by Wang Xiaoshuai. 

The Beijing International Film Festival runs until August 29.

Reporter: Ye Qing, Liu Huihui, Deng Junfang

Videographer: Xia Zhongming, Lu Chang

Video editor: Chen Haomin

Cover image: Liu Shaozhen

Project manager: Deng Junfang

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei