"When the 600-year-old Taimiao encounters the hundred-year-old film, the event itself could leave a mark on the history of civilizations," said Jia Zhangke, Chinese film director who hosted the "Masters in Conversation" on Thursday evening in Beijing.

The event sees a number of renowned film directors and actors sitting down to discuss how their artistic creations and aestheticism have been influenced by their own cultures, and how to maintain diversity of culture through cinematic creations.

The panels are part of the 2019 Asian Film and TV Week, which is held as a celebratory event of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC).

A starry night with red carpet, concert and launching ceremony

The launching ceremony of the Asian Film and TV Week was held at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao, located next to the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The red carpet was rolled out on the ancient white marble bridges, and film gurus, directors and actors from China and other areas around the world gathered at the 600-year-old site.

Chinese Palme d'Or-winning director Chen Kaige, renowned actor Chen Daoming, Jackie Chan, and Zhang Ziyi, as well as international filmmakers including Indian director Aamir Khan, Iranian director Majid Majidi, Japanese director Yoji Yamada and Russian director and actor Fyodor Bondarchuk are among the attendees.

The traditional architectures were shining with modern light shows and the ancient white marble bridges saw rustling gowns and tailored suits. A concert featuring film insiders' performances and classical theme songs was also staged to mark the occasion.

With the Asian Film and TV Week officially launched, a total of 200 screenings of more than 60 films is scheduled in 14 cinemas across the five Chinese cities  of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Xi'an.

Academic saloons and forums will also be held among the film producers, directors, experts and students during the seven-day event. It is expected that such exchanges and communications could further boost the development of Asian films.

Asian films & Oriental aestheticism

Director Chen Kaige, an outstanding representative of China's “Fifth Generation” directors, said that he has witnessed China's 40-year journey into prosperity, and he has been seeking about the spirit that supported the country and its people to endure all the hardships during the process.

"I've been seeking an answer for a long time, and I believe it is the cultural spirit which is behind all of the changes," Chen said, saying that the perseverance is in the core of the Chinese culture.

Japanese director Yoji Yamada said the simplicity and artlessness of the Japanese daily life has been his inspiration in artistic creations.

"Sitting in an ordinary and simple house, eating and living on the tatami… This is how I lived," said Yamada. "Even with the lifestyle westernized later after the 1960s, the ideology, the sense of morality generated from the life still decides the tone of my works."

While talking about the cultures that influenced their films, most of the directors have mentioned one thing: the commonality of the Asian civilizations.

Just as Indian actor and director Aamir Khan mentioned, films are the best way to tell the stories of the Asian countries, to express the connotation of the profound cultures and to preserve the traditions as well as civilizations.

Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung suggested that Asian directors find a more precise way of film language, which could help to convey the true spirits contained in the cultures of the Asian countries. 

Films & Diversity

Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned at the opening ceremony of the CDAC that "diversity spurs interaction among civilizations, which in turn promotes mutual learning and their further development."

Asia fosters the world's most ancient civilizations, and how to maintain the civilizations through films has also become a topic at the "Masters in Conversation."

"Equality is the primitive respects between individuals, different races and different civilizations," said Chen Daoming, a veteran Chinese actor, as well as head of the China Film Association. "Asia is home to more than 1,000 ethnic groups, who has different religions, different cultures and, of course, different films. And films are one of the most direct ways for us to understand the world."

Most of the attendees are excited about joining forces and working for better representation of Asian films in the world. Yojiro Takita said that while working with Chinese crews in Chinese cities and towns, the local stories, different cultures and even languages have inspired him to jump out of his habitual mindset.

Singaporean director Neo Chee Keong said he is looking forward to producing films with directors from different Asian countries, and was happy that now such a platform has become available.

While all the artists has seen a promising future, with communication and cooperation, one thing is for sure. As Chen Daoming said, the event on Thursday night is "only a beginning," and "an occasion to reach a consensus" and "to form the understanding," so as to bring the Chinese films and the Asian films to the world and the international audiences. 

Photographer & Video editor: Zhu Danni

Cover image designer: Du Chenxin