Jury for 20th SIFF Asian New Talent Award meets with new talents

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By CGTN's Yu Fengsheng & Yang Ran

One of the highlights of the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival is the "Asian New Talent Award," an award that seeks to discover and support new forces in the filmmaking industry in Asia. With the award set to be unveiled in the next few days, jury members of the Asian New Talent Award have met up and shared their experiences with young filmmakers from around the continent.

Film director Wang Xiaoshuai /CFP Photo

Well-known Chinese film director Wang Xiaoshuai was invited to preside over the jury of the Asian New Talent Award. During the meeting, the jury president said he has high expectations to see work from new talent, and told young filmmakers "not to lose themselves in the movie market."

"The new talents should respect the requirements of art and culture and should stay away from temptations, such as high investment, when making a movie. Instead they should focus on the content of the films, to make good and creative movies," Wang explained.

Starting in 2004, the Asian New Talents Award has been committed to exploring new talents and space for Asian and Chinese films. And this year, 14 films will compete for six prizes.

Meanwhile, a panel discussion focusing on film making and the future development of the Chinese movie market was held during the film festival. Acclaimed movie producers attended the discussion and spoke of their own experiences in film making and their views on the industry.

Film director Peter Chan /CFP Photo

"If you want to achieve maximum profits, then there is only one kind of film, a film which combines big Intellectual Property and 'fresh meat' that may take control the screens," Hong Kong director Peter Chan says.

Film director Feng Xiaogang /CFP Photo

Director Feng Xiaogang says audiences should bear some responsibility for this phenomenon.

"If audiences don't choose to watch this kind of film, then it won't have living space. So we directors had better treat the audience as our competitors," Feng stated.

However, Professor Dai Jinhua from Peking University holds a different view and says the reason mainly comes from the schedule of film screenings.

"I think the directors should have sincerity when making different films. Some films don't do well in the box office due to bad production quality. And it also means the audience has the acuity to distinguish between good and bad films, I think this is a good start," Dai said.

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