"Backcountry" poster
The Asian Newcomer Award (Asian Newcomer Award) has gone through twenty years since its establishment and is an important force that cannot be ignored in the Asian film industry.
started from setting up a small but beautiful stage 20 years ago with all employees "part-time", and now it has become one of the most recognizable "signature" units of the Shanghai International Film Festival. The Asia New Award is not only an award, but also an incubator of dreams. It has provided a stage for countless new filmmakers to showcase their talents and witnessed their entire process from youth to maturity, from obscurity to fame. And looking back at the 20-year mark, its beginning was as faltering and ambitious as a newcomer’s start.
On June 16, 2024, the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival Golden Goblet Award·Asian Newcomer Unit Judges Meeting
started with "fighting for a breath"
and later sprung up support platforms and awards for new film stars. Differently, when Yaxin started, newcomers were not the ones sought after by the film industry. 20 years ago, the threshold for film shooting was higher, the market could not accommodate many films, and newcomers had even fewer opportunities to make films.
As the founder of the Asia Newcomer Award unit, Shen Yang returned to work as a judge for the Asia Newcomer Award unit this year. zhe'wei later supervised the gold medal producer of excellent Chinese literary films including " Daytime Fireworks ", " Roadside Picnic ", " The Party at Southern Station ", " Pluto Hour ", etc. He reviewed Yaxin to reporters The journey of “entrepreneurship”.
In early 2000, Shen Yang was transferred from another system to the Shanghai International Film Festival Organizing Committee. Facing a film festival that mainly focused on screenings and the Golden Goblet Award main competition, she felt that something was missing. Now when talking about the original intention of creating the Asian Newcomer Award, Shen Yang concluded that it was "to win a breath."
Shen Yang, the founder of the Asia Newcomer Award, returned to serve as a judge for the Asia Newcomer unit this year.
At that time, it had been recognized by the International Producers Association as a global Class A Shanghai International Film Festival. "In terms of influence and voice, it is far less than the three European films." Big, even a little marginalized.”
Shen Yang still remembers that an accidental inspection trip to the Busan Film Festival made her “very excited”. There, she witnessed how film art transcended national boundaries and closely connected filmmakers of different skin colors and languages. At that time, South Korea's economy and urban construction were not prosperous, and Busan was a small place with extremely inconvenient transportation. However, the "steaming energy" generated by the movie there made Shen Yang deeply feel the power of Asian movies. Unlimited potential.
Every day in Busan is a feast of movies and culture. Filmmakers from Asia and even Europe and the United States exchange ideas, share experiences, and enjoy the happiness brought by movies together. Shen Yang still remembers the banner held at the venue that read - "The Busan Film Festival is a harbor for Asian films." She thought unconvincedly, how could Shanghai, the largest city in Asia and the cradle of Chinese films, still be like this? How about a "small fishing village" like this?
With this unwillingness and encouragement, Shen Yang began to think about how to set up a platform at the Shanghai International Film Festival, a platform that could truly support and showcase the talents of new Asian talents. The Asian Newcomer Award was born with this vision.
Now recalling the "original intention" of the Asia New Awards, Shen Yang said, "Shanghai 20 years ago, China's rapid development, and the emerging film industry all gave us the confidence, responsibility and confidence to seize the opportunity. The right to speak, to build such a platform. "It is not only a recognition of those fledgling filmmakers, but also a film festival's fulfillment of its own responsibilities.
Photos taken from the meeting during the early preparations for the Asia Newcomer Awards. The first on the right is Pu Zixiao and the second on the right is Shen Yang.
At first, the team was very short-staffed, and the newly established "Asian Newcomer Award" was only carried out as an activity under the forum unit.Pu Zixiao was the "veteran" who co-founded the first Asia New Awards with Shen Yang, and served as the person in charge of the core organization and planning for a long time afterwards.
"At that time, we had almost nothing." Pu Zixiao recalled the "initial start" of Asia New Award, "no funds, no reputation, not even a clear plan."
In the preparatory stage of Asia New Award, the team started from formulating Brand-new regulations, the cumbersome process of applying for awards, "looking for a needle in a haystack" to find high-quality newcomers and new works, and building a team of judges for this completely unknown award, etc., from planning, publicity to execution, every link is from 0 to 100%. 1’s transformation.
"At that time, the funds for the two sessions were actually very tight, and every aspect was stretched. But even so, from the first session, the Asia New Awards has given out 300,000 yuan in real money to reward new creators." Shen Yang is still proud of this move - you know, the bigger Golden Goblet Awards do not have bonuses.
Pu Zixiao recalled that the Asia New Awards did not set bonuses at first. However, with an in-depth understanding of the plight of new directors, everyone gradually realized that simple honorary recognition is not enough for newcomers, and more substantial help is needed. Therefore, after careful consideration and multiple negotiations, the Asia New Awards decided to support new directors with practical actions.
News report that the Asia New Awards rewards new creators with 300,000 yuan.
.3 million is divided equally between the two awards of best film and best director. A film can receive a reward of 150,000 yuan. For newcomers 20 years ago, this was already a considerable number, and it was even possible to afford a small-cost production. The help of real money not only provides them with the motivation to continue creating, but also injects vitality into their careers.
Pu Zixiao remembers that some directors used bonuses to repay debts incurred during film production, while others used it to promote their own works or even start the production of their next work. "Although this fund is not much, it is a timely help for new directors."
"Glorious Fury" directed by Cao Baoping won the Special Jury Award for the Asian Newcomer Award at the 9th Shanghai International Film Festival
Later, he also worked as a film director Cao Baoping, who works in education and supervision, has also been committed to helping and supporting new film talents in recent years. At this year's Yaxin review meeting, Cao Baoping lamented that with the changes in the film environment over the years, the conditions for newcomers to grow up are also different from his own back then. "In terms of hardware environment, when I made "Glorious Fury", the total cost was only more than 2 million, but (now) the cost of movies is much higher than before, and mainstream movies have become more expensive." At the same time, he also said that today Newcomers have many more opportunities than they had in the past. Many film festivals have launched venture capital platforms, and many film companies have new talent plans, providing new and more means and methods to realize their dreams of making movies.
In 2006, on the night of winning the award, Cao Baoping (right) and Pu Zixiao (middle) took a group photo.
In addition to the prize money, the film festival also insisted on holding a press conference for new directors, and this tradition continues to this day. Although the media coverage at the time was not very enthusiastic for newcomers who were not well-known, Pu Zixiao believed that this step was very important. "It is not only a recognition of the talents of new directors, but also their first opportunity to show themselves to the world." Various links including the award ceremony are set up. "We hope to allow new people to speak out and communicate on various occasions, and encourage They go to express and let more people see the potential of new directors and the value of their works. Even if it is just a small step, it is a big step for them to move to a broader stage. "
The judges and contestants all fell in love with Shanghai
to develop a plan for newcomers. The applicable selection criteria were also carefully considered at the time. Film selectors focus on "newness", and through professional and solid work, they use unique vision to discover new people's concerns about new issues and their exploration of new narrative styles in their creations. "The Newcomer Award must pay more attention to the word 'new'. Some technologies are not that complete, and some still need to be adjusted with the team, but we will care about whether your audio-visual language is new, and whether your expression is new?" Pu Zixiao explain.
Looking at the list of shortlisted winners of the Asian Newcomer Award so far, Ning Hao, Xin Haicheng, Cao Baoping, Wanma Caidan, Gao Qunshu, Zhang Meng, Lin Shuyu and other later famous "mainstays" of the Asian film industry have all emerged from this stage. of newcomers.
In Shen Yang's memory, although he is a newcomer, many people can already see the "master image" when they were young.
For example, Shen Yang realized that Ning Hao had shown a deep understanding of movies and a unique creative perspective in his youth, and had captured the complexity of social phenomena and human nature in "Green Grass"; Pu Zixiao remembered Cao Baoping's "Glorious Fury" "After the screening, the entire jury was excited. One of the judges, Korean director Bong Joon-ho, changed from having to translate to English directly. Although the film was not the "best", it created a new film in Asia. The precedent of the "Special Jury Award"; and Wanma Caidan seems to have had a very calm "old soul" since his youth, which is different from the calmness and humility of ordinary people, which has impressed both Shen Yang and Pu Zixiao to this day.
The most important players in discovering the talents of these newcomers are the judges of the Asia New Awards. Now the founders are searching their memories, and there are a lot of stories about the review.
At the 7th Shanghai International Film Festival in 2004, AsiaNews Awards judges Huang Shuqin and Sato Tadao presented the award to Zhu Wen, the best director winner.
The first AsiaNews Awards jury consisted of three people, including film scholar David Bordwell from the United States and a famous Chinese director. Huang Shuqin and Japanese film historian Tadao Sato. Pu Zixiao still clearly remembers Bordwell’s unique way of watching the film with his small notebook and small counter, recording the number of shots and key plot points while watching the film. Shen Yang also added a respectable detail - in order to maintain the objectivity and neutrality of his film review, Bordwell even refused to be reimbursed by the organizing committee for his round-trip air tickets.
On June 20, 2006, director Bong Joon-ho appeared at Shanghai Cinemas as one of the judges of the Asian Newcomer Award at the Shanghai Film Festival (Source: Sina Entertainment Photography Wang Jianqing)
And the charm of the city of Shanghai has also given the Asian Newcomers who come and go. The judges were impressed. Shen Yang recalled that when she invited Bong Joon-ho to come to Yaxin to serve as a judge in 2005, he almost immediately agreed. After arriving in Shanghai, he was full of curiosity about the city and acted like an excited big boy. When he saw the night view of Lujiazui, he shouted excitedly, "Tom Cruise! This is Tom Cruise dancing." "Come down from the building!"
Chen Yingxiong, the chairman of this year's Jinjue jury, was a judge for the Asia-New Zealand unit in 2008. After finishing the review work, he took the initiative to learn more about the city of Shanghai and made a special trip to visit it. Ancient towns and water towns like Zhujiajiao. Japanese director Xing Dongxun also fell in love with this city through Asia New's review trip to Shanghai, and in 2013 he filmed the Sino-Japanese co-production "Five Minutes Before Midnight". Director Shunji Iwai said in a recent interview that it was precisely because he saw "600 Miles to Fuyang" in Asia that he came up with the idea of making a movie in China...
Comes year after year, from Iran, Malaysia Young filmmakers from different countries, such as India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, have also expressed their shocking feelings about the city of Shanghai on the stage of Asia-Pacific.
Perspectives and changes across the times
Throughout the history of the Asian New Award finalists, directors from different regions and cultural backgrounds in Asia have brought the most vivid perspectives and unique expressions of young people in each era.
Ishikawa, a professor at Shanghai Theater Academy, talked about the Asia New Awards in a lecture.
Ishikawa, a professor at Shanghai Theater Academy, talked about the significance of the Asia New Awards from a scholar’s perspective in a charity lecture before this year’s film festival. The positioning of the film festival was at a time when Asian films were on the rise, and Japan, South Korea and Iran all had their own characteristics, and Asia was too big, and the races, regions, and humanities and cultures were too complex." The Shanghai International Film Festival, as a window based in Asia and looking at the world, The launch of the Asian newcomers unit not only demonstrates respect and tolerance for multiculturalism, but is also an important step in discovering and cultivating new forces in Asian films.
"South of the Clouds"
This Shanghai Film Festival also specially selected a film list to review the 20th anniversary of Yaxin. Open Yaxin from this film list, and you will find a different perspective - "South of the Clouds" As the best film of the first Asia New Awards, it can be said to have established the "standard line" for this award; " Band " is the highly stylized expression of the now smash hit New Pants lead singer Peng Lei, and is the star of many mainstream film festivals. The style is very different; " Zalainuoer " directed by Zhao Ye made Lin Quanze, chairman of the Asia-Sindia Jury of the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival, strongly request the organizing committee to "watch it again"; "600 Miles to Fuyang" is After Qin Hailu served as a judge for Asia News, she continued to care for newcomers and achieved great results in "after-sales service"...
"600 Miles to Fuyang"
In the international perspective, other young creations from Asian countries are also remarkable: India's "Fuyang Funeral" "Unique and poignant, the funeral of a centenarian in the countryside brings out the life of three generations; " I'm not angry " tells the story of an angry young man who wants to get married but cannot afford to buy a house and encounters obstacles at every turn. It provides an insight into the current situation of Iranian society. It is extremely pungent satire and criticism, but also resonates with audiences from different countries; the Ando sisters' joint work "0.5mm" shows the audience the deep-seated problems of Japan's aging society...
"0.5mm"
Pu Zixiao talked about the Observing the creations of new Asian directors over the past 20 years, she pointed out that although the new directors may have shorter experience in the industry and may still be unfamiliar with their techniques, their works generally show concern for the deep themes of human nature. "These directors start from a personal perspective and explore issues that are often closely related to the broad social environment and the common living conditions of mankind. Whether it is pity for weak things or resonance with the impact of small and medium-sized people in a big era, they all reflect the role of film as a kind of The universal appeal of art forms."
As time goes by, Shen Yang has also observed that the focus of new directors has gradually shifted from the more "macro" social issues in the past to more subtle individual experiences, and their creations have begun to be more nuanced. Many of them reflect profound thoughts on the relationship between individuals and society. Coupled with the increasing influence of study abroad experiences and cross-cultural backgrounds on the growth of the younger generation, more new narrative methods and visual styles can be seen in artistic exploration, pushing the boundaries of film art to continue to expand.
The Shanghai International Film Festival, which is positioned as "based on Asia, focusing on the Chinese language, and supporting new talents," has developed a mature support and training system over the past 20 years, starting from the Asian Newcomer Award. Starting from here, the Asian Film Salon, which was paired with the awards unit to promote exchanges and interactions among Asian filmmakers, and the film project venture capital unit launched three years later, the Shanghai International Film Festival has accumulated over the years and has now fully formed short videos and Jinjue short films. , venture capital training camp, film project venture capital, Golden Goblet Asia Newcomer Unit, Golden Goblet Award and the "6+1" ladder-shaped new talent cultivation system of siff young×Shanghai Young Filmmaker Support Plan, from the diverse needs of talents in the film industry Start by getting involved at different stages of growth, and continue to make additions to cultivate new people.
2024 Shanghai Young Filmmaker Support Program announces the final list of recommended groups
Careful viewers may notice the fruitful results this year. Last year, the four high-reputation Chinese films " under the day ", " Diary of a Young Man ", "Boat Down" and "The Long Day" launched by the Asia New Film Unit were released successively in the first half of this year, and all received critical acclaim. The Douban scores of the four films are above 8 points, and the box office of three films exceeded 10 million. The new works of newcomers are no longer solitary self-admiration, but their keen insights into the times arouse wider resonance.
All Douban 8+ Yaxin Chinese luxury packages will be released in the first half of this year
Shen Yang, who has successfully introduced many literary and artistic films to the market, believes that "Yaxin's works are not only a guarantee of quality, but also increasingly Pay more attention to the consideration of the audience. This kind of optimization is a comprehensive consideration of the work and the market, and finding a balance between aesthetics, aesthetics, and the market is really helpful to the industry."
Cao Baoping at this year's AsiaNews Awards review meeting
From a contestant back then to today's chairman of the jury, Cao Baoping lamented at this year's AsiaNews Awards review meeting, "It was impossible to imagine 20 years later. No matter what happens, if you have a goal, just do it step by step and achieve it. "
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