The Shanghai International Film Festival is programming over 400 films from 71 countries this year while adding VR works for the first time, all in service of what managing director Chen Guo calls using “cinema as a bond to deepen the exchange and mutual learning of film cultures among countries, nations, and regions.”
Chen, managing director of Shanghai International Film & TV Events Center, says SIFF has positioned itself as a cultural connector between East and West through its diverse programming strategy.
The numbers tell the story of SIFF’s ambitions. Nearly half of all films — 49% — are premieres of various types, with 30% presented in 4K quality. But it’s the broader mission that drives Chen’s vision for SIFF as China’s only competitive non-specialized international film festival.
“Shanghai, the birthplace of Chinese cinema, established the SIFF in 1993,” Chen says. “After more than three decades of inheritance, innovation, and development, it has become an important international film festival not only in Asia but also globally.”
Chen emphasizes how the festival’s programming strategy deliberately balances international appeal with Chinese roots. “Since this year marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of world cinema and the 120th anniversary of the birth of Chinese cinema, the curation this year has tried to cover both the classic masterpieces in the history of Chinese and foreign cinema and the avant-garde works with pioneering concepts.”
The festival’s “Harmony and Coexistence: A Century of Resonance between Chinese and Foreign Films” special program exemplifies this approach, presenting “a dialogue on screen between iconic works in the history of Chinese and foreign cinema, and showcasing the journey of mutual learning, mutual inspiration, and mutual promotion between Chinese and foreign films.”
Meanwhile, the popular “Cannes Zero Time Difference” section gathers eight titles including “Young Mother’s Home,” “Renoir,” and “Rainbow,” while all-time classics like “Sunset Boulevard” and “Barry Lyndon” appear in sections like “Tribute to Masters” and “Midnight Surprise.”
The festival’s commitment to emerging talent runs deep through what Chen calls the “6+1” tiered development system. “We have been placing growing emphasis on strengthening internal synergies within this system, implementing integrated mechanisms to provide comprehensive, progressive support for young filmmakers — from foundational training to advanced project development,” she explains.
This year, SIFF Young has introduced producer slots, “strategically diversifying participant profiles while expanding support for core creative roles across the industry.” The SIFF Project section launched a new Genre Project category alongside its existing programs, encouraging creators “to reinterpret conventions within established frameworks and diversify market offerings.” The results speak volumes: project submissions increased 39% year-on-year.
The restructured SIFF Next now operates in two phases — “Industry Fundamentals” and “Project Development” — delivering what Chen calls “highly efficient, customized mentorship through its Industry Workshop Series.”
International collaboration takes center stage through the Belt & Road Film Festival Alliance, which Chen’s team established in 2018 and now boasts 55 members from 48 countries. “Leveraging this alliance, the festival hosts the Belt & Road Film Week as a ‘festival within the festival’ annually,” Chen explains. This year, selected films recommended by alliance members will screen in five Yangtze River Delta cities outside Shanghai, alongside roundtable forums, industry panels, a Southeast Asian lifestyle market, and “Travel with Films” activities.
The international film and television market serves as another key partnership platform. “This year, to enhance cooperation with key regions, the market will feature special events like ‘Focus on Russia’ and ‘Focus on Thailand,’” Chen says, with participation from film and television institutions and companies from Thailand, Russia, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, and other countries.
Shanghai’s status as China’s top box-office city — with 379 cinemas and the nation’s highest screen count and box-office performance — translates into extraordinary ticket demand. Chen shares striking statistics from this year’s sales launch: “We started ticket sales on June 5. Within just one hour of the launch, among the over 400 films and approximately 1,500 screenings, 92 films with more than 600 screenings were sold out. The fastest-selling one was the best director film in the Golden Goblet main competition, which was sold out in only 26 seconds.”
The opening day numbers are staggering: 430,000 tickets sold and 119 films completely sold out, meaning more than half of all screenings were exhausted within eight hours. “Faced with such a high enthusiasm for watching movies from the audience, we have specially planned about 100 meet-and-greet sessions for this year, covering the vast majority of the screening sections and held intensively in multiple screening theaters,” Chen says.
These intimate encounters create unique moments. Chen recalls opening day’s first meet-and-greet: “Director Wu Siyuan, as a close friend of the late artist Chen Yifei, appeared at the post-screening interaction of Chen’s last work, ‘The Barber.’ Twenty years later, Wu Siyuan, who watched the entire film with the audience, said that the two decades passed in the blink of an eye, and everything seemed still vivid, with neither the images nor the memories faded. I think this is the unique kind of touching experience that can only be found in a movie theater.”
Technology integration comes carefully, with SIFF embracing innovation while preserving theatrical experiences. The festival introduced an “Immersive Expanded Reality” section featuring three VR works: “Gargoyle Doyle,” “Kursaal,” and “Montegelato” — marking VR’s first official entry into SIFF’s screening lineup.
The SIFF ING Young Talent Imaging Program includes an AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content) section that Chen says is “more focused on technological innovation and a youth perspective. Among the over 2,600 entries collected globally, there is a strong awareness of technology and a breakthrough in visual aesthetics. This not only expands the boundaries of AI involvement in image creation but also offers audiences a refreshing experience in terms of visual language and narrative methods.”
Chen believes “digital technology brings not only innovations in creative media and methods but also new ways of thinking about creation.”
Source material development takes particular emphasis this year through collaboration with the China Writers’ Association for a literary IP promotion event. “We will showcase a selection of outstanding literary works suitable for film and television adaptation, release a list of the most adaptable literary IPs, and host roundtable discussions on literature and film,” Chen explains. The initiative includes a Literary to Film and Television IP Pitching Conference, “encouraging creators to delve into life and root themselves in the people, and viewing this as a methodology for creation. By returning to the essence of film, we aim to discover more compelling stories worth telling.”
The festival’s international credibility manifests through its jury composition. This year’s Golden Goblet Award jury comprises 21 members from 13 countries and regions across Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe, with the main competition jury led by Italian master Giuseppe Tornatore. “The wide distribution of countries and regions fairly presents the diverse panorama of global film culture, striving to make the judging process more international and culturally inclusive,” Chen notes.
As a platform for Chinese cinema, SIFF serves as both showcase and marketplace. “The festival has always been a major platform for showcasing Chinese-language films and the main battlefield for promotion and distribution,” Chen says. This year’s opening red carpet featured “many film crews that will be released this summer and in the second half of the year,” while the “Chinese Blockbuster Parade” will “further consolidate industry forces and expand partnerships at this year’s festival.”
Chen sees contemporary Chinese filmmaking at an inflection point. “In recent years, with the sensation caused by Chinese-language films such as ‘Ne Zha’ on the international stage, the Chinese film industry has garnered increasing attention,” she observes. SIFF’s role as “a significant film festival in China and Asia, has also played an important role in bridging Eastern and Western civilizations.”
The festival’s future centers on strengthening “the relationship between cinema and the city” while serving as “a vital platform for the prosperity of Shanghai’s film industry.” Chen outlines themes of “Innovation through History” and “Cinema as a Medium,” gathering “the world’s finest films and creating a platform for industry dialogue” while prioritizing a “people-oriented” approach through “high-quality, multi-industry, and widely-covered ‘film+’ offerings.”
“By strengthening the integration of culture, tourism, commerce, sports, and exhibitions, and through a high-quality cultural event, it will fully showcase the cultural charm of the city,” Chen concludes, positioning SIFF as both cultural ambassador and industry catalyst in an increasingly connected global cinema landscape.
The festival takes place June 13-22.
variety.com
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