The art of using music in film is an indispensable part of underscoring emotion without telegraphing it. The third Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) has invited Chinese-American singer CoCo Lee to serve as "Music Ambassador" for the festival.

"I've sung several songs for some famous films. For me, music and film are good friends. When you think about a film, you'll also be reminded of the classical music in it – and vice versa," Coco said during an interview after walking down the red carpet at the opening ceremony of the third HIIFF on Saturday.

As a Chinese American, CoCo is the first and only person of Chinese ethnicity to perform at the Oscars in 2001. She performed the Best Original Song nominated, "A Love Before Time" from Ang Lee's movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." CoCo is also the singer for the Asian version of the theme song of the animation film "Mulan" in 1998.

"The 3rd Hainan Island International Film Festival is so impressive! I was truly surprised to see a film festival on such a large scale," she added.

Another veteran singer Jeff Chang shared his attempt to make a new movie adapted from his 1994 masterpiece song "I have a crush on you."

"I've worked with Hong Kong director Gordon Chan for a love comedy. It's based on my song as well as the director's personal love experience. It's a brand new attempt to combine music and movie," he said during an interview at the film festival.

When asked to give some suggestions as to how to develop the cultural industry in Hainan, he suggested music production camps can be organized to attract musicians to come over for new creations.

"An environment that can spark imagination is important for musicians. A lot of music production camps have taken place in the international community in recent years. Musicians gather together to create. I think Hainan is a perfect place for such a practice because of its unique climate and landscape," Jeff said.

Meanwhile, "pandemic" is another word mentioned frequently at the film festival. "The COVID-19 pandemic has been well controlled on the Chinese mainland, but the situation in Hong Kong is still not good. I hope the situation will improve in Hong Kong, and I can go home as soon as possible," Hong Kong actress Anita Yuen said.

For actor Guo Tao, who's also the host of the opening ceremony of the 3rd HIIFF, organizing such a film festival is something touching and encouraging. "We have encountered so many difficult things this year. It's really incredible that we can still hold a film festival on such a large scale. This also shows how much the organizing committee appreciates films," Guo said.

The third HIIFF will end on December 12.

(Cover image by Zhang Zhijie)