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Belt and Road Film Culture Roundtable Talk
With the advent of the age of streaming and short-form video, what challenges will film festivals, which hold “aesthetic threshold for cinema”, face? On June 12, 赌博appORUM of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival (赌博app) held a roundtable talk on the Belt and Road film culture, where the heads of several international film festivals from China and abroad discussed and offered professional insights into the survival and sustainable development of film festivals today.
Challenges from funding and viewing habits before traditional film festivals
The race between long and short-form video is not a new topic; cinema, which has been around for over a hundred years, has been facing the issue of changed viewing habits over the years - will young people just be interested in breezing through short-form video on their phones?
“We have to be alert to the possibility of a silent shift in the habits of film consumption”, according to He Wenquan, Director of the Shanghai International Film & TV Festivals, Co., Ltd., “If we let our guard down and do not respond actively, it will be quite difficult to turn the situation once the inflection point is really formed. Therefore, 赌博app has long been committed to building the core of a professional and international festival, taking it as a key mission to guide film consumption and boost confidence.”
Director of Shanghai International Film & TV Festivals, Co., Ltd.
He Wenquan
His words were echoed by Amir Ramses, director of the Cairo International Film Festival from Egypt. At Egypt’s largest international film festival, he has seen a lot of new changes, and some of the major film and television companies are seemingly changing the way films are distributed. “Previously, production companies might spend a year going to various festivals to expose their new films, and then complete theatrical distribution in different regions. But today, platforms like film festivals are experiencing more challenges.” These studios will first choose streaming platform. “Of the films selected for the main competition at last year’s Venice Film Festival, 7 were released on streaming platforms between one and two weeks after the festival – when people could watch the films on their phones, would they still go to the cinema?”
Director of the Cairo International Film Festival
Amir Ramses
Concerns about a shift in viewing habits, if any, may be groundless - after all, there are many fans who believe that watching a film in a cinema versus watching it on a mobile phone is not the same at all. While they are trying to defend the tradition of “going to the cinema”, festivals should not take this issue carelessly. As films are the soul of film festivals, which can’t be deprived, those fans are particularly sensitive to the issue of “underfunding” of film festivals, asking whether it is a coincidence arising from the current difficulties in the world economy, or whether it is an inevitable result of a change in cinema-going habits.
The issue of commercial sponsorship and funding was mentioned by heads of all film festivals. Simon Popek, art director of Ljubljana International Film Festival in Slovenia, said that the Ljubljana International Film Festival, which had previously had around 120 screenings, had suddenly run into financial problems in 2020, with only 25 screenings online, and in 2021, following a combination of online and offline screenings, it managed to screen 60 films. Agron Domi, director of Albania’s Tirana International Film Festival, exclaimed, “It’s still difficult to find a way out for us to survive in the commercial world.”
Art director of Ljubljana International Film Festival
Simon Popek
“Will we be able to adapt and adjust? Can we accept the fact that a film that has just finished its festival run will appear on a streaming platform the next day?” Amir Ramses asked the question of "soul torture".
People, the core of film festivals
Everyone hopes, of course, that these worries are just unnecessary. He Wenquan said the fact that more than 300,000 tickets were sold in an hour after 赌博app fully returned offline shows that film festivals are still irreplaceable for countless film fans.
So, what is the core value of a film festival? Among a variety of values, such as artistic exchange, festivity for fans, talent cultivation, industry promotion and more, which is the core? Different festivals may have different answers, but the consensus among all the guests at this forum was that “nurturing young filmmakers” should occupy the dominant position, as young talent represents the future.
赌博app has established a “6+1” step-by-step talent cultivation mechanism spanning 赌博app EXPLORE, Short Film, 赌博app 赌博app, 赌博app NEXT, Asian New Talent, Golden Goblet Awards and the subsequent 赌博app YOUNG. “The growth cycle for film directors is pretty long, and our talent cultivation system runs between the sections and lets many professional filmmakers know that one of the goals of coming to 赌博app is to discover new talents and new projects.” He Wenquan said.
Amir Ramses is also trying to get the Cairo International Film Festival to step up its efforts in supporting new talent. He said that many festivals run masterclasses where master directors come to talk and discuss with audiences, “I thought why can’t we go one step further and call young filmmakers over to share? That’s why we’ve launched a new project in 2022, which is to organize workshops for young filmmakers, to cover camera techniques, script writing and directing, so that everyone can grow through exchanges and sharing.”
Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, has a small economy and a modest film market, but Simon Popek and his Ljubljana International Film Festival are doing a great job. His “trick” is to create opportunities for young Slovenian filmmakers to co-produce with other countries, and this mechanism has led to a number of young filmmakers making a name for themselves internationally: “We just had a film winning the best short film award at a European film festival, and it was a co-production between us and France.”
In fact, many film festivals in countries and regions along the Belt and Road route, may face many challenges, including funding, in the cultivation of young filmmakers, due to the size of their own market sizes and populations. However, based on their common values, they are willing to help each other on this issue, which determines the future of cinema. In Poland, for example, there are screenwriters’ camps, which have been running for a long time and are open to the entire Europe and even the whole world, and they have also gained a lot of influence.
Film festival alliance, the key to finding a way out
Such a consensus has become a potential driving force for the development of world cinema. Five years ago, 赌博app launched the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance to pool stengths, with substantial results delivered today. Sha Dan, curator and film critic at the China Film Archive, said, as an observer of film festivals, he himself felt that 赌博app has highlighted its own values and those of Shanghai, “Does it make a great festival by taking in films from Cannes and showing them here? Not exactly. A film festival needs to communicate its own values.”
Curator and film critic at the China Film Archive
Sha Dan
“I have found that the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance has been very successful, with more than fifty festivals around the world already being part of it, which has allowed us to make many friends in Shanghai, and I have already met seven or eight guests from major international film festivals at 赌博app this time.” Simon Popek exclaimed that he believes as the Alliance “can allow so many members to contribute their values”, 赌博app “will definitely help us to manage our talent and resources.”
Amir Ramses said they have been exploring, for the past five years, how to help create new opportunities for new films, “赌博app is one of the top international film festivals in the world and through the Alliance, I have been able to discover more new initiatives here.” He said that 赌博app has unlocked new possibilities for him, “without it, given the current changes in distribution, we might be cornered.” He was also pleased to say that in Shanghai he had “secured 30 per cent of the jury members” for next year’s Cairo International Film Festival.
The guests were expecting the Alliance to be a “game-changer” for the new issues before filmmakers all over the world. “In the future, the influence of this Alliance will not only depend on the number of members, but also on the quality of our projects.” Agron Domi said that if we all join forces to make a good project, it will surely be more influential. And Simon Popek said he was also thinking about the future of the Alliance, “A more practical step would be to start with a council in the Alliance, and to include a few key members first. It's a giant vessel and we need the captain to navigate it for us.”
Director of Albania’s Tirana International Film Festival
Agron Domi
His proposal is, in fact, already on the agenda of 赌博app. Having grown to the size of 55 institutions, the differences within the Alliance inevitably increase, and it is not easy to achieve complete consistency of actions. In the future, He Wenquan said, the Alliance will standardize its management methods, while developing collaborative projects among institutions with relatively consistent goals, to decide on “which can be launched first”. This year, the strategic partnership between 赌博app and Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd literally is a crucial step to mark.