The 9th Beijing International Film Festival "Temple of Heaven Award" for the global collection of feature films produced after January 1, 2018, a total of 775 films from 85 countries and regions registered for the competition, including 107 domestic films, 668 overseas films (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), the types of films participating in the competition are rich and diverse.
After layers of screening, a total of 15 films from 20 countries and regions were shortlisted for this year's "Temple of Heaven Award", including 12 overseas films and 3 domestic films. Here's an introduction to the finalists:
1 Danish film Lucky Pierre
Director: Billy August
Pierre decided to break away from his strict rural religious family and go to Copenhagen to work as an engineer. His career and love are smooth sailing, and happiness seems to be close at hand. However, his childhood experiences, the constraints of his original family, and his deep-rooted religious background have always plagued Pierre, making it difficult for him to start a new life.
2 Japanese film Half World
Director: Shunji Sakamoto
Takamura inherits his father's business, making long charcoal in the mountains and being indifferent to family affairs and his wife and children. After learning about his old classmate and former self-defense officer Eisuke, he began to think about how to spend the rest of his life and decided to face his work and family seriously.
3 American film Ben Is Home
Director: Peter Hedges
On Christmas Eve, Ben Burns returned home without warning. Mother Holly was very happy, but still cautiously welcomed her beloved son. However, as the two get along, more and more problems are gradually exposed. Within 24 hours of what could have changed their lives, the mother did everything in her power to prevent the family from falling apart.
4 Indian film Fear
Director: Gaya Raj
A veteran who fought in World War I was sent to Kutanad to work as a postman, delivering grants and letters to the families of servicemen. With the outbreak of the Second World War, his identity gradually changed, from a person who gave money to a person who reported the loss.
5 Finnish film Happy, Bad Old Man
Director: Tina Rimi
The grumpy old man had just lost his wife, and just as he was making a coffin for himself and preparing for death, life took a turn for the better. The granddaughter turned to him for help, and needed him to use his stubborn temper and life wisdom to help him get through it. In the process, the bad old man finds the meaning of life and learns a big secret...
6 Iranian film "Here"
Directed by: Hardy Mohamhei
The worried old man wants to save his son Suha, but his efforts are to no avail. After witnessing his son's execution, the old man carried his stiff body across the mountains and rivers and helplessly buried him. After this, the weary old man had to continue to live a static life, raise his grandchildren, and wander alone in the silent night...
7 Hungarian-French co-production of "Sunset"
Director: László Nemesch
Europe in 1913 was at the twilight of civilization, crumbling. Iris Wright, who had high hopes, came to Budapest hoping to inherit the legendary hat shop of his late parents, but was chased away by the new owner of the hat shop. In search of her long-lost brother, Carman Wright, she travels through layers of fog in search of the truth.
8 British, Iranian, Dutch co-production of Tehran: City of Love
Director: Ali Jaber Ansari
It's a bittersweet story: retired bodybuilding champions, overweight beauty clinic secretaries, depressed funeral religious singers, and three nearly middle-aged, disillusioned urban men and women, each longing to find love in a city that never really accepted them.
9 Chinese-Kazakh co-production film "The Musician"
Director: Silzati Yahefu
The film tells the real and touching story of the people's musician Xian Xinghai who came to Almaty during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union and was rescued by the famous Kazakh musician Baikadamov and his family in the face of being unaccompanied and poor. In the last years of his life, Xian Xinghai, although he experienced hardships, did not forget his original intention, cared about Yan'an, and inspired the Chinese and Kazakh people to fight against fascism with his music creation.
10 Chinese film "The Eleventh Time"
Director: Chen Jianbin
In a case 15 years ago, it was adapted into a stage play by the Municipal Repertory Theatre, and Ma Fuli, as a party, revived the old matter to make his life ripple again. While Ma Fuli was busy tangling with the director of the drama troupe, Hu Quentin, while looking for a lawyer to overturn the case and seek the truth to restore his innocence, he was also busy reconciling the relationship between his wife Jin Cailing and his daughter Jin Duoduo, and life gave him more weights... After many years, can Ma Fuli reopen the case? How many truths are there?
11 German-British co-production of "Fireball Star"
Directed by Marcus H. Rosenmiller
Bert Trautmann was a German Nazi soldier in World War II who was brought back to England as a prisoner of war. A football manager discovered his athleticism and brought him to the Manchester City squad. In the face of an outcry from the people of Manchester City, Troutmann finally won the respect of everyone with his outstanding performance.
12 Israeli film The Unorthodox Road
Director: Arilan Macca
In Jerusalem in 1983, the daughter of printer Yakov Cohen was expelled from school for ethnic reasons, which made him decide to fight back. Despite the lack of conditions, he, with a firm will and a passion for action, together with two friends, founded the first Sephardic Jewish political group in Jerusalem. They struggled from the bottom, convinced that sephardic Jews should be human with their heads held high. The whole process is full of love for fellow citizens, full of humor and anger.
13 Greek film The Waiter
Directed by: Steve Kericles
Reynolds is a professional waiter who lives a life of chaos and watching others' eyes, but is unexpectedly caught up in the disappearance of his neighbor Milan. Blonde and Tina have a great relationship with Milan, and they lead Renos on a thrilling and exciting journey that breaks his smooth life. The choice between love and death tests Reynolds. As the relationship between the three developed, the secrets hanging in the line gradually surfaced.
14 Chinese film "The Wandering Earth"
Director: Guo Fan
The sun is about to be destroyed, and humanity has built huge thrusters on the surface of the earth and embarked on a journey to find a new home. However, the cosmic path is full of dangers. In order to save the earth, so that humanity can reach a new home after a long 2500 years, the young people of the "Wandering Earth" era stepped forward and launched a life-and-death battle against the clock.
15 Turkey, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden co-produced film "Wild Pear Tree"
Director: Nuri Bige Ceylon
Ceylon is a lover of literature and dreams of becoming a writer. He graduated from college and intends to publish his first novel. In order to raise funds, Ceylon returns to his hometown of Anatolia, but has to face a huge gambling debt owed by his father because of his previous addiction to gambling...
On the whole, the shortlisted films of this year's "Temple of Heaven Award" have their own highlights, including the latest works of the world's heavyweight directors, as well as the surprise works of new directors who have emerged in the world, and include a number of premieres that debut for the first time. In the end, the top ten awards of the "Temple of Heaven Award" will be spent, and we will wait and see.