Xinhua News Agency, Wuhan, July 28 Title: Popular Film Hundred Flowers Award: Sixty Years of Light and Shadow Chasing Dreams A Hundred Flowers Bloom in a New Era
Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Peng, Yu Pei, and Xiong Xianghe
This is the scene of the opening ceremony (taken on July 28). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min
From the 28th to the 30th, the 36th Hundred Flowers Awards Ceremony of Popular Film was held in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
Founded in 1962, the Hundred Flowers Award for Popular Cinema has gone through 60 years. Over the past 60 years, many hundred flowers award-winning and nominated films have written the fate of the people, reflected the changes of the times, and engraved the solid pace of Chinese filmmakers advancing with the times, showing the magnificent prospects for the continuous development of the mainland film industry.
Lyrical of the great creation of the masses of the people
People's nature has always been a distinctive feature of the Hundred Flowers Award.
Judging from the selection method, the original Hundred Flowers Award was voted by the audience sending votes to the "Popular Film" magazine. Today, 101 final jury members from all over the country and all walks of life have voted on the spot to select major awards. The Hundred Flowers Award has long been regarded as the "audience award" for Chinese films.
Over the past 60 years, the Hundred Flowers Award has adhered to the principle of "a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending", insisting on reflecting the evaluation and preferences of the majority of the audience for films, film themes, stories, performances, etc. are in line with the aesthetic demands of the public, and a number of films praising the great creations of the people have emerged in the award-winning works.
On July 28th, guests attended the opening forum. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min
In 1962, Xie Jin's "Red Detachment of Women" won the Best Feature Film Award at the first Hundred Flowers Awards for Popular Film, and Zhu Xijuan won the Best Actress Award for her classic role of Wu Qionghua in the film. Since then, from "Little Flower", "Lushan Love", to "Red Sorghum", "New Year", and then to "My Father and Mother", "Zhang Side", many films full of enthusiasm to write the stories of the people have stood out from the selection of the Hundred Flowers Award and won honors.
On July 28th, guests attended the opening forum. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min
In the view of Meng Jun, a professor at the School of Arts of Wuhan University, from the nominations and award-winning films of the Hundred Flowers Award, we can taste the distinct background of "people". Especially in the new era, after the main theme film absorbed market elements, it gave birth to a commercial blockbuster with great influence, and films such as "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Chosin Lake" also won a double harvest of box office and word of mouth by virtue of public recognition.
"The process of China's film industrialization has been deepening, film production has become more open, film distribution and screening have become an important link in the film industry chain, and the correlation between award-winning films and box office is getting higher and higher, which also reflects the 'people's nature' of the Hundred Flowers Awards from one side." Meng Jun said.
Depict the positive style of the times
As an important branch of mainland literature and art, film art has left vivid footnotes for different eras.
The Hundred Flowers Award has been going all the way since the 1960s, and with the development of mainland society, it has always spoken out for the times and assumed due social responsibility.
On July 28, the opening ceremony guests, actors Jackie Chan (second from left) and Zhu Xijuan (second from right) accepted the flower offering. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min
60 years of light and shadow stories, patriotism is the vivid theme of the Hundred Flowers Award - "Sun Yat-sen", "Founding Ceremony" and "Zhou Enlai" are praises of great figures, "The Great Cause of the Founding of the People's Republic" and "My Motherland and Me" reproduce the growth history of the republic, and "Red Sea Action" and "Heroes of Fire" tell the heroic deeds of enthusiastic young people.
With the economic and social development, the characteristics of the era of the films nominated for the Hundred Flowers Award are more prominent, and the stories of the times are more three-dimensional. "33 Days of Lost Love" and "Charlotte Troubles" add comedic elements, using humorous and playful techniques to tell the sour, sweet and bitter spicy of ordinary people; "I am not a medicine god" focuses on the fate of small people and reflects on social pain points; "The Wandering Earth" shows an important breakthrough in domestic science fiction films...
Every lifelike character is imprinted with the imprint of the rolling forward of the times, and every excellent film work is in harmony with the current style of the times.
"From the stories of heroic characters to the ordinary and struggle of small people, people from all walks of life may now become the protagonists of movies." Xu Zihao, director of the "post-90s" and one of the screenwriters of "Detective Chinatown 3", believes that good works need to start from reality and resonate with the same frequency of the times in order to make Chinese stories more exciting.
Reflect the magnificent prospects of the development of film
The nominees for the 36th Hundred Flowers Awards for Popular Cinema were announced not long ago.
Looking at the 5 nominated films, they jointly depict a vivid picture of the mainland film market with a hundred flowers blooming - "Chosin Lake" shows the strong strength of the mainland film industry, "Hello, Li Huanying" tells the warmth of maternal love, "Miracle Stupid Child" presents the struggle stories of ordinary people, "Send You a Little Red Flower" focuses on the confusion and growth of teenagers, and "Chinese Doctor" highlights the unity of purpose in the face of the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
After 60 years, the Hundred Flowers Awards have been guided by nominations, awards and related activities to promote the continuous expansion of the film market and the continuous enrichment of film genres.
In 2006, the Hundred Flowers Awards added the Best Newcomer Award, and in 2012, the Best Screenwriter Award was restored, and more outstanding newcomers and outstanding screenwriters were able to stand on the stage and become the focus.
During the 2020 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival and the 35th Hundred Flowers Awards for Popular Films, a science fiction forum was set up to help filmmakers create more possibilities for science fiction films.
The Hundred Flowers Awards Ceremony will also hold a film industry summit forum, inviting film industry representatives and industry experts to discuss the development opportunities of China's film industry, film and television technology progress and business transformation.
"From gathering filmmakers, rewarding creations, setting up film festivals, to carrying out academic forums and encouraging controversy, the Hundred Flowers Awards have built a bridge of communication between the rapidly developing film market and the value orientation of literary and artistic works." Zhang Zongwei, deputy dean of the School of Drama, Film and Television of the Communication University of China, said.
In his view, the Hundred Flowers Award should continue to encourage the creation of outstanding Traditional Chinese cultural themes based on traditional culture and excavating modern values, pay tribute to revolutionary history and reflect the feelings of home and country, position contemporary China and capture realistic themes of human feelings, and further promote the blossoming of mainland film art.
On July 28, Huang Jianxin, the guest of honor and director of the opening ceremony, spoke at the opening forum. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min
On July 28, Zhu Xijuan, a guest of honor and actor at the opening ceremony, spoke at the opening forum. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min
On July 28, Yin Li, the guest of honor at the opening ceremony, vice chairman of the China Filmmakers Association and director, spoke at the opening forum. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min