"Small but Beautiful" Folk Film Festival thrives and explores dark horse films to be Bo Le

Do you still remember where the movies "Heart Maze","What's in the Dark" and "Wedding Funeral" made their first stunning appearance? It is not a star-studded premiere, not the red carpet of a well-known film festival, but the Xining FIRST Youth Film Exhibition, which is a bit unfamiliar to ordinary audiences. In the past two years, in addition to the large-scale official film festivals, some small but beautiful folk film festivals have also grown vigorously.

Original title: Discovering the dark horse, folk film festival Dang Bo Le

still remember the place where the movies "Heart Maze","What's in the Dark" and "Joy and Funeral" made their first stunning appearance? It is not a star-studded premiere, not the red carpet of a well-known film festival, but the Xining FIRST Youth Film Exhibition, which is a bit unfamiliar to ordinary audiences. In the past two years, in addition to the large-scale official film festivals, some small but beautiful folk film festivals have also grown vigorously.

The Zhejiang Youth Film Festival has just come to an end. The 13th CIFF China Independent Film Exhibition is selecting films, and the Chinese Youth Film Forum will be held in Wuhan on November 25... These film festivals are committed to supporting new directors and new works, and are committed to discovering those "dark horses" of films that are not yet familiar to the market and the audience. It is very likely that the future stars of Chinese films will start to shine from these private film festivals.

Director: My destiny was changed through the film festival

. If it had not been for the Xining FIRST Youth Film Exhibition, Wang Yichun's "What's in the Dark" might have been just a CD placed on the bookshelf at home, let alone the fact that he was later shortlisted for the Shanghai International Film Festival and other domestic and foreign film festivals., and even finally landed in theaters across the country, was seen by more people.

At the beginning, after spending 3 million yuan out of his own pocket to shoot the movie, Wang Yichun's eyes turned black and didn't know what to do with the good film. She was not a student at the Film Academy and didn't know who to show the film to. She didn't know anyone in the film industry, so she learned very little information. In this way, the film was shelved at home for a year. One day in 2015, a friend of Wang Yichun's at Capital Normal University told her that the curator of the Xining FIRST Youth Film Exhibition had come to the school to give a speech. Should you come and listen? So, Wang Yichun traveled through most of Beijing, rushed from Tongzhou to Haidian, and listened to this speech that changed the fate of the movie.

"The people at the film exhibition said that there is no charge for participating in the film exhibition, and even rough cuts can be registered. I think there is no cost anyway, so I will send the film there." Wang Yichun admitted that he didn't care much after signing up. Even the notice of his work being shortlisted was seen from his circle of friends. "When I saw it, I was really shortlisted! Well, the money wasn't wasted in vain."

What happened next exceeded Wang Yichun's expectations. The film was shortlisted for the final review, and was supported by Jiang Wen, the chairman of the jury at that time, and finally won the Best Director Award. After winning the award, the organizer of the film exhibition, He He Pictures, acquired "What's in the Dark", reimbursed Wang Yichun's previous filming expenses and reduced her psychological burden. More importantly, Harmony Pictures also contributed to the final release of the film, which received unanimous praise. Today, Wang Yichun is already preparing for her second work, and Jiang Wen has also promised to be her producer and male lead actor. "For a new director like me who is confused and doesn't know how to start, FIRST has helped me find a better direction and platform." Wang Yichun lamented.

In fact, many cutting-edge directors in China are currently recognized by the industry for the first time through private film festivals, and then move on to a larger stage. Ning Hao spent 100,000 yuan on his debut film "Incense". After being shortlisted for the CIFF Image Exhibition, he won the Best Film Award at the Tokyo Filmex International Film Festival; last year's annual suspense and thriller masterpiece "Heart Maze" was first unveiled at the FIRST Film Festival and won two awards for best picture and best director in one fell swoop; Bi Gan, director of the Chinese art film "Roadside Picnic", his two previous short films "Tiger" and "Diamond Sutra" were shortlisted for CIFF. He is also the youngest director ever at the film festival.

Curator: Exploring new directions in film art

CIFF was founded in 2003 and is one of the earliest private film festivals in China. Wang Fei, director of operations at CIFF and selection of the FIRST Film Festival, said that the rise of private film festivals is directly related to the popularity of digital shooting equipment around the world."When everyone can shoot with a DV, movies are no longer a privilege that a very few elites have. The amateur era of movies is coming, and everyone can express it through images." Under such profound changes, the sorting, selection, and screening of films require more festivals and exhibitions. Some film festivals supported by the government and sponsored by private capital have sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain.

Currently, two international film festivals in China-Beijing International Film Festival and Shanghai International Film Festival-bring together outstanding film works from around the world and focus more on international cultural exchanges. The Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival and the Huabiao Awards are more like an annual summary and recognition of China's film industry. Compared with these official film festivals, folk film festivals focus on exploring new people and exploring the development direction of film art, forming an important supplement to the film industry.

While continuously expanding its influence, various folk film festivals have also begun to form their own unique styles. "CIFF will start more from the essence of the film and value the diversity of art and the vanguard of expression." Speaking of this, Wang Fei is quite proud."Although there are few media reports and no red carpet stars, the most innovative and pioneering works in the country can only be seen here. We not only have feature films, but also short films, documentaries, and experimental films." Many of the works shortlisted for CIFF have won international awards. When foreign film festivals come to China to select films, they often use CIFF's film lists as a reference.

Compared with CIFF's artistic style, Xining FIRST and Zhejiang Youth Film Festival provide an industrialization platform for young filmmakers. "In addition to displays and appearances, we have introduced some film investment institutions so that directors can directly receive investment. We also have special theater support to help the release and release of works." Luo La, general manager of Donghai Film Group Production Company and curator of Zhejiang Youth Film Festival, introduced that this year's film festival also cooperated with Wu Tianming Youth Film Special Fund. Award-winning young directors 'venture capital film projects can receive 100,000 yuan in preliminary incubation funds.

Expert: The government should increase support and guidance.

According to Ishikawa, vice chairman of the Shanghai Film Association, folk film festivals can first provide a steady stream of fresh blood to China films."It is impossible for a young filmmaker to stand out at an international film festival. Therefore, folk film festivals for young people can enable more young filmmakers to emerge."

Interestingly, five or six years ago, such film festivals might have been concentrated in first-tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, but in the past two years, they have begun to take root in second-and third-tier cities such as Xining and Hangzhou. "With the rapid development of China's film market, we also need more film festivals to simultaneously improve the audience's film culture and let them see more art films different from commercial films." Ishikawa believes that while cultivating audiences, the film festival is also exploring more possibilities for the distribution and screening of art films. In his view, it is relatively difficult for art films to enter the commercial market, but if a distribution mechanism is formed through film festivals, it can supplement the commercial market.

Of course, behind private film festivals, they also need the support and support of the government and capital. Over the past ten years, many film festivals have lost money and made profits, but they have died. Ishikawa also suggested,"Without the support of the government and capital, it will be difficult for private film festivals to last long. The government should still provide more support and guidance to achieve win-win results for capital, government, film festivals, audiences, etc."

Editor: yvette