"Endless life is a never-ending growth, a desire to express that cannot be stopped." As director Wang Xiaoshuai, chairman of the jury, said at the award ceremony of the first IM Cross-Strait Youth Film Festival: Filmmakers are always young. And "endless life" is the biggest expectation for filmmakers.
In 2021, the second IM Cross-Strait Youth Film Festival joined hands with CNEX to set up a "Life and Death" creation training camp, which is open to the top 120 contestants of the first IM Cross-Strait Youth Film Festival in 2020, soliciting their ongoing feature film projects, and finally 8 groups of students were shortlisted for the training camp. On November 16th, the finalists and 7 top film mentors held an opening ceremony in Pingtan.
"Endless Life" Creative Training Camp Opened (from left: Ding Ruiwu, Chen Lingzhen, Fang Shaoyong)
Ding Ruiwu, Director of the Radio, Film and Television Publishing Management Division of the Ministry of Publicity and Film and Television Development of Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone, Fang Shaoyong, Deputy Director of the Satellite Television Center of Fujian Radio, Film and Television Group and Deputy Director of Straits Satellite TELEVISION, Chen Lingzhen, Consultant of the Training Camp and CO-Founder and CEO of CNEX, Zhang Zhaowei, Documentary Director, CNEX Co-Founder and Production Director, Li Ruijun, famous director, screenwriter and producer, Ami, famous screenwriter and writer, Xu Xiaoming, representative of Taiwan's new new directors, one of the "sixth generation directors" of the film, Screenwriter Tang Danian and other training camp instructors, famous director, screenwriter and producer Geng Jun, and 8 groups of training camp students attended the opening ceremony.
From left: Geng Jun, Li Ruijun, Zhang Zhaowei, Ding Ruiwu, Chen Lingzhen, Xu Xiaoming, Ami, Tang Danian, Fang Shaoyong
At the same time, the opening ceremony was connected to the network with Xiao Ruguan, a training camp instructor and famous editor who could not be present due to the epidemic or project relations, and one of the trainees, Taiwanese director Sui Shufen (the work "Take My Mother Out to Play" won the best film honor of the first IM Cross-Strait Youth Film Festival).
Top right: Xiao Ruguan; bottom left: Sui Shufen
"Winning a prize at IM is not the end, but a whole new beginning"
Fang Shaoyong, deputy director of the Satellite Television Center of Fujian Radio, Film and Television Group and deputy director of Straits Television, said that this film festival is destined to be a more exciting and brighter one. One of the highlights was the first "Endless Life" creative training camp.
Just as the film festival positioning: enough professional, enough young, enough sincere. Because it is sincere enough, so we work together with CNEX to create a training camp, with our purity and professionalism, with our sincerity and enthusiasm, to screen out the good works that really belong to young directors in the new era wave, the "back wave" that really has vigorous vitality, and contribute our meager strength, I think this is also the original intention of the IM Film Festival to set up the "Endless Life" creative training camp.
From left: Xu Xiaoming, Chen Lingzhen, Li Ruijun, Geng Jun, Zhang Zhaowei
Fang Shaoyong believes that young filmmakers will encounter many difficulties and confusions on the road to growth, THE IM Cross-Strait Youth Film Festival and Training Camp is not the end, but a brand new starting point, a platform for the take-off of the film dream and a supply station for a long road, and the training camp and mentors will also do their best to clear the haze of reality for young directors from all aspects of funds, channels, creation and other aspects in the future, providing high-quality and powerful help.
Students take notes on the spot
"The road to creation is not easy to follow, and it is lucky to walk with people with the same aspirations"
Chen Lingzhen, consultant of the training camp and co-founder and CEO of CNEX, served as a judge of the IM Cross-Strait Youth Film Festival last year and saw many outstanding works of young filmmakers full of diversified creativity. She frankly said that the road of creation is not an easy road to take, and it is very fortunate to walk with people with the same aspirations, and it is even more rare for teachers with rich experience to support and help along the way, and I believe that the students will benefit a lot in the training camp.
Zhang Zhaowei, a documentary filmmaker and co-founder and production director of CNEX who came to Pingtan for the first time, said that he has always learned about the cultural, film and television industry dynamics in Pingtan through the Internet and other channels. He believes that shooting good works and displaying them on a high-quality platform is a crucial step for young filmmakers, which is not only an affirmation of their own ability, but also an opportunity to expand the future film and television career, and IM is such a platform, I believe that in the future, we will definitely see more excellent works of students at the IM Film Festival.
"Making a movie is a process of upgrading and fighting monsters"
In the instructor lecture on the first day of the training camp, Li Ruijun said: Whether a good poem is good or not depends not on whether it is written on sprinkled rice paper or toilet paper, but in the poem itself. Therefore, young directors must first shoot familiar people and things around them within the scope of their ability, do not pay too much attention to industrial equipment and external forms, and a film can only really see where the problem is when it is finished.
Starting from November 16th, the four-day "Endless Life" creative training camp will carry out course teaching and communication with young filmmakers in the form of lectures sharing, work reviews and one-on-one guidance, and give practical training from different dimensions such as scripts and audio-visuals;
On November 19th, the famous director Wang Xiaoshuai and the famous editor and producer Liao Qingsong will also hold a master class for the students, from the perspectives of "the relationship between film production and producer" and "from script to image", to share and exchange successful experiences in film creation and docking the market with the students.
Instructor comments on students' works (from left to right: Xu Xiaoming, Tang Danian, Li Ruijun, Ami)
Filmmakers are always young, and filmmakers never give up. The camp will guide the path to specialization in an atmosphere of challenge against the current, while incubating high-quality Chinese film projects. In addition, the final winner of the training camp will also receive the "Endless Life" Creative Training Camp Selection Award and receive bonus support.
Bootcamp lectures
November 16
Li Ruijun: Preparation and production of low-budget films
Ami: The core of the screenplay
November 17
Xu Xiaoming: The relationship between the director and the editor
Tang Danian: A play
November 18
Xiao Ruguan: Unfolding the Shengmen drama through Bai Juyi's narrative
Bootcamp master class
November 19
Liao Qingsong: The relationship between film production and executive producer
Wang Xiaoshuai: From the script to the image
About IMFF
IM Cross-Strait Youth Film Festival (IN MOMENTS Film Festival, abbreviation: IMFF) is a professional film festival that aims to support the creative strength of young people in colleges and universities, and integrates short film evaluation, forum and screening.
IM is short for "In Moments", meaning "from this moment on". As a supporter and witness to the growth of young film and television creators in colleges and universities, IM advocates that young creators use images as a means to present a sincere expression of social development in a pluralistic era.
In Moments Film Festival（IMFF）is a professional film festival including short filmcompetition, forum and screening, which aims to support youth film creation andproduction in colleges and universities.
IM is short for "In Moments", which means "from this moment on". As a supporter and witness to the growth of young film creators in colleges and universities, IM advocates young creators and filmmakers to present a sincere expression of social development in a pluralistic culture era.