On April 20th, the media meeting of the international judges of the 14th Beijing International Film Festival Focus on the Future Unit was held at Beijing Langyuan STATION. The Jury of Focus on the Future is chaired by Polish director Jerz Skolimowski, and the four judges are Chinese director Gu Xiaogang, Dutch cinematographer Keith van O'Ostrum, Chinese director Yang Lina and Chinese actor Yang Zishan.
The Focus on the Future section was established in 2014 and celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The Focus on the Future unit aims to "discover new talents in the international film industry with Chinese perspectives, and lead artistic originality with the new trend of world films", show the rich and diverse cultural connotations of film art, and enhance cooperation and exchanges between young filmmakers from all over the world.
Jerz Skolimowski is not only an outstanding director who has made an important contribution to the New Wave of Polish cinema, but has also won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival. Commenting on the significance of exchange and mutual learning for film, he said: "It's very obvious that when you see a country's films, you get to know that country better. In terms of film style, you can feel how the artist thinks through the film. The quality of the Chinese films in the Focus on the Future section is very high, the films are very thoughtful, the design is very exquisite, the planning is very good, and the execution is very precise. ”
Skolimowski shared his thoughts on this year's Focus on the Future section: "I am very surprised by the works I have seen so far, and I will see some questions, some of which I cannot answer myself, and I will discuss them with the rest of the jury. There are also works that express the main idea and message very clearly, and the ideas are very original. The quality of Chinese films today is indeed very good. It's an encouraging sign that the future of these budding directors is full of possibilities. ”
Gu Xiaogang, the director of the Beijing Film Festival's "going out", returned to the Beijing Film Festival as a judge of the Focus on the Future Unit to help the development of young filmmakers. He believes that the entire film list of the Focus on the Future unit is rich and of high quality, "As a judge, you can jump out and reflect on your own creative context and direction." As the name suggests, I saw a lot of possibilities for the future of cinema in this unit, and I also gained a lot of self-reflection by watching and learning from the excellent works of other directors. Gu Xiaogang said.
At the 12th Beijing Film Festival, the work "Mother" directed by Chinese director Yang Lina was shortlisted for the main competition unit, and the starring Wu Yanshu won the "Best Actress" award for this film. Now, Yang Lina has returned to the Beijing Film Festival and served as a judge for the Focus on the Future unit, she shared her feelings: "The Focus on the Future unit is a dynamic and charming unit. Today is also its 10th birthday, I wish it a happy birthday. ”
Dutch photographer Keith van O'Othrum has worked on more than 80 films, including Emmy Award-winning films. When talking about the future unit of this year's Beijing Film Festival, he said: "Looking at the movies from more than 100 years ago, and then looking at the current film lens language expression, we find that there will be a lot of innovation, and there will be many changes in visual technology, which exceeds our expectations." In the works of these young directors, we can see that they make full use of the current new technology, and at the same time, they also have a very strong ability to use audiovisual language to tell stories, which is related to their sense of innovation, not only technical issues. I'm glad they've been able to do that and I'm looking forward to seeing what they do in the future." ”
Actor Yang Zishan has his own evaluation criteria for the film: "I think whether a movie moves me or not, its overall completion, and its outstanding performance in a certain aspect are very important. These are the elements that I use to measure whether a film can be shortlisted. As an actor, I will watch the actors' performances in more detail. In the process of watching the movie, I am actually learning, and I am also reflecting on myself, which is a very beautiful experience. ”
Over the next few days, the five jury members will work with the "Focus on the Future" section to discover every budding filmmaker and support each innovative film.