The 12th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) opened in the Chinese capital on Saturday.

Shen Haixiong, president of China Media Group (CMG) and Chairman of the 12th BJIFF Organizing Committee, delivered a speech and announced the opening of the festival. Mo Gaoyi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Beijing Municipal Committee and director general of the Publicity Department of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, also attended the event and delivered a speech.

"In the past 120 years since its birth, movies have kept on changing, bringing warmth and strength to the world. A good film could accelerate the creation of a successful cultural industry. Internationally, the whole industry chain operation has become a mature model in the film market," Shen said.

"The four major film festivals co-hosted by CMG with Beijing, Shanghai, Changchun and Hainan have their own characteristics. Since its establishment, the Beijing International Film Festival has shown its unique charm with its style and temperament accumulated over time and its increasingly far-reaching international influence."

In his speech, Mo Gaoyi said that over the past 12 years, the Beijing International Film Festival has become a shining name card in the construction of the national cultural center. "In 2021, 186 films were produced in Beijing, accounting for about a quarter of the country's total, and the top three in the domestic annual box office list were among them," said Mo.

He added that the progress of Beijing's film industry is a vivid miniature of the upward trend of Chinese film development in the new era.

The number of films registered for the "Tiantan Award" worldwide this year reached 1,450, an increase of 63 percent compared with 2021. Among them, there are 1,193 foreign films from 88 countries and regions.

The animated promo video for the 12th BJIFF, produced by the BJIFF Organizing Committee and created by CMG's Anime Filming Studio, was also officially released.

Featuring 12 zodiac figures called "Fuwa," the video is shot in stop motion, one of the oldest uses of animation. Each second is made up of 12 frames, and each frame was individually orchestrated and shot by the animation designer.

The closing ceremony will take place on August 20, and 10 "Tiantan Awards" will be unveiled.

Argentine Ambassador to China Niu Wangdao attended the opening ceremony, which can be watched on multiple CMG platforms, as the guest of honor representative of the BJIFF.