The red carpet was glittering with stars, and the grand ceremony began. On the evening of April 18, the 14th Beijing International Film Festival, directed by the State Film Administration and sponsored by China Central Radio and Television and the Beijing Municipal People's Government, reopened in Huairou, Beijing. At the event, more than 370 Chinese and foreign filmmakers stepped onto the red carpet. Their steady steps demonstrated their love and persistence in film art, and their confident smiles reflected the prosperity and vitality of world cinema. At the opening ceremony, Serbian director Emil Kusturica awarded the organizing committee’s special honorary award to Chinese director Zhang Yimou.
The jury lineup for the 14th Beijing International Film Festival’s “Temple of Heaven Award” has made its grand appearance. Led by the famous Serbian director Emil Kusturica, together with Australian film sound designer David White, actor Fei Xiang, Austrian director Jessica Hausner, Brazilian director Carlos Saldanha, actor Ma Li and actor Zhu Yilong embarked on this dreamlike journey of light and shadow art with the audience.
The opening ceremony of this year’s Beijing Film Festival not only showed the world’s filmmakers and audiences the splendid beauty of light and shadow, but also presented an audio-visual feast to the world’s film industry. The opening program "Spring, Come to Beijing to Watch the World's Best Movies" has the main theme of "If you are a light, you must illuminate the distance; if you are a shadow, walk side by side" to welcome the grand opening of the Beijing Film Festival. In the music, poetry, painting and dance program "Mulan", young dancer Hao Ruoqi of the China Opera and Dance Drama Theater and Ling Yun, the intangible inheritor of Emei martial arts, partnered with singer Li Yuchun to interpret the traditional Chinese story "Mulan Joins the Army", showing off their heroine style . The
special program "Light and Shadow Shine into Reality - Tribute to Women's Power" invited Chang Shana, the former dean of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts who is over 90 years old, Captain Song Yin, the search and rescue instructor of the First Rescue Flying Team in the East China Sea, and Chen Huihui, a war reporter who went retrograde Representatives of outstanding female workers in various fields, together with three female filmmakers Qin Hailu, Ye Tong, and Zhang Mo, told their stories that resonated with the spiritual power of movies.
The program "Reading You" invited Chinese performing artist You Benchang, who is also in his 90s, to have cross-generational exchanges with actors Gao Yuanyuan and Hu Ge. The two generations of filmmakers shared the history and development, inheritance and innovation of Chinese films. The famous American singer Betty Higgins and Anda, a national band from Inner Mongolia, sang the classic song "Casablanca", leading the audience to recall the love story in the classic film.
Along with the familiar melody, the Beijing Film Festival promotion song "Suddenly Remembered" was sung again, and the highlight images of previous Beijing Film Festival were presented on the screen frame by frame. In the warm April, the 14th Beijing International Film Festival will invite filmmakers from all over the world to watch the images of the times and listen to the voices of the world.
Text｜Reporter Wang Li
Picture｜Reporter Liu Kehong
