director of the millennium

The Pingyao International Film Festival was initiated and founded by director Jia Zhangke, with Marco Mueller as artistic director. It is an annual film screening event held in the 2700-year-old ancient city of Pingyao.

It mainly screens non-Western (Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa) films, aiming to strengthen the connection and cooperation between Chinese films and film practitioners in non-Western and developing countries.

On March 2017, 3, the Pingyao International Film Festival was officially launched in Beijing and the first screening was held, which was a complete success.

It is worth mentioning that the Pingyao International Film Festival is the fifth international film festival approved by the state after the Shanghai International Film Festival, Changchun Film Festival, Beijing International Film Festival and Silk Road International Film Festival.

Of course, the Macau International Film Festival, a relatively special international film festival, was not included.

If we add the Hainan International Film Festival, which was only approved in 2020, there are only seven international film festivals in China.

Among them, the Pingyao International Film Festival is the only film festival that has no official connection.

The other several film festivals were all jointly created by local governments and the General Administration.

This shows how awesome Chief Jia is. He was able to create the Pingyao International Film Festival when only official film festivals could be organized.

Wu Yuan really didn't know how Chief Jia did it.

But because he knew the example of Chief Jia, he had been signaling Guangying Times to work hard at the General Administration since a few years ago, hoping to get approval from the higher-ups to hold an international film festival led by Guangying Times.

This matter dragged on for several years and was finally settled this year.

It may be because the domestic film industry has developed so rapidly in the past two years. Starting from "Lost in Thailand", the domestic film market has completely exploded, allowing the higher-ups to see the dawn of the development of the cultural and entertainment industry, so they are willing to allow Guangying Times to hold a film festival.

After all, in the past, the three Chinese film awards plus other awards such as the Beijing International Film Festival and the College Student Film Festival were enough to support the domestic film art honors.

Organizing so many film festivals will only result in a situation where there are too many films and too few monks.

To put it bluntly, there are too many awards but not enough films to participate in the film festival.

It was not until this year that the top leaders probably felt that the number of new Chinese-language films would explode each year, and that having another international film festival would be worthy of the rapid development of Chinese films.

But this is just one more spot.

Light and Shadow Times has snatched it away first, so in the foreseeable future, Chief Jia is unlikely to have another chance to organize the Pingyao International Film Festival.

This thing has one position for each person, and the qualification to host the event cannot be distributed indiscriminately.

That's why Wu Yuan felt sorry in his heart.

Although he felt sorry, he was still determined to organize his own international film festival. If he could grasp this, it would be equivalent to grasping part of the right to interpret and speak on domestic art films.

As a company that aims to become a leading film company, Guangying Times cannot miss this good opportunity.

"Director Wu, the General Administration wants you to be the initiator and leader of this film festival even though it will be hosted by Light and Shadow Times."

"The main direction of publicity is for you to stand in front of the stage, but it is better for us at Light and Shadow Times to stand behind the scenes."

"So what is said to the public is that you are the one who brought this film festival together, you are undoubtedly its founder, and you are also the chairman of the jury of the first film festival."

"And it would be best if you could invite some internationally influential filmmakers to serve as judges and consultants."

"In short, what the above means is that the international film exhibition we hold must reach world-class standards and meet the definition of "international"."

"I understand." Wu Yuan raised his eyebrows: "It's just about building connections." "I'm not bragging, but there is no director in China who knows more international filmmakers than I do."

"If I want, I can invite half of Europe and half of Hollywood's filmmakers here."

"It's not that serious." Li Xiaoping wiped the sweat off her face. "We still have to find the right balance. It would be bad if we steal the limelight from the Shanghai International Film Festival and the Beijing International Film Festival."

“After all, our official name is a film exhibition.”

"And the awards given cannot be simply called awards, but rather - honors."

"I understand this, too." Wu Yuan nodded decisively and said, "We are not a film festival, so we can't give out awards. We can only play by the rules."

The Pingyao International Film Festival has already demonstrated this to Wu Yuan.

There are Roberto Rossini Honors, Fei Mu Honors, and Audience Choice Honors, but the "awards" actually given are still Best Film, Best Director, and the like.

It’s just that it’s not easy to give out customized trophies or something, you can only give out a piece of paper.

The problem is not big.

For the film crews participating in the exhibition, what is important is the exposure opportunity that attracts everyone's attention and the gimmick of gaining honors.

As for the value of the honor itself.

Whether Cannes awards the Palme d’Or or a piece of ordinary paper doesn’t really matter much.

What really makes Cannes famous is its commercial operation and century-old reputation.

Similarly, for the new film festival in the era of light and shadow, it doesn’t matter what the awards are given under what name. What matters is whether the film festival can become a fair, just, open and highly anticipated film week.

"Oh, right." Wu Yuan asked again, "We still need to choose a venue for this film exhibition, and then give it a name, right?"

All international film festivals in the world are named after the places where they are held.

For example, the Shanghai International Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Paris International Film Festival and so on.

The same should be done for the Light and Shadow Era International Film Festival. It cannot be like the Golden Rooster Awards, where the festival is held in a different venue every time. What a mess!

"Yes, Director Wu, do you have any favorite places?"

"I think Dali is a good place." Wu Yuan said preparedly, "Yunnan Province is a good place. It's like spring all year round, and the air is good. It's very pristine."

"Dali also has the Dali Ancient City, which is representative of the cultural history of China and has a profound sense of history."

"There are already many film festivals held in big cities. There are two in China, Beijing and Shanghai. We don't need to hold it in a big city. We might as well hold it in the ancient city of Dali."

"Just call it the Dali International Film Festival. Isn't that pretty good?"

"Invited guests can not only come to the exhibition, but also travel. Both domestic and international crews can come and experience the charm of southwest China."

"How about it?"

Li Xiaoping thought about it seriously and decided that Dali was indeed a good choice. She nodded and said, "Okay, I'll report to the General Administration!" (End of this chapter)