On June 24, the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival, which lasted for ten days, came to an end. 511 films were screened, 1745 screenings, more than 460,000 people, behind each number is the charm of light and shadow has not ended. "City of Movies" has become another resounding synonym for Shanghai.
On the afternoon of June 30th, the 23rd session of the "One Character Reading Club" invited Ishikawa, vice chairman of the Shanghai Filmmakers Association, professor of the Shanghai Theater Academy, and doctoral supervisor. Ishikawa is a veteran film scholar, film producer and producer, who has published 9 books, including "Chinese New Literature Film Volume 1976-2000" (Part 1 and Part 2), "Selected Films of Xie Jin", and "Flowing Years Without Paying dongliu - Wu Yigong", and the films he has participated in planning, producing or supervising have won important awards at major international film festivals. He started from a "shadow" word and told the audience about the past and present life and future trends of the Shanghai International Film Festival.
Ishikawa at the One Character Reading Party. Images in this article are provided by the organizers
The festival was not easy to come by
In 1983, wu Yigong's film "Seongnam Old Things" won the "Golden Eagle Award for Best Feature Film" at the Manila International Film Festival. As the first international award after the reform and opening up, it inspired the Chinese people's film dreams. As a result, a number of veteran film artists Xie Jin and Zhang Ruifang proposed to hold an international film festival in Shanghai, but at that time, Shanghai's hardware facilities, whether theaters or hotels, did not meet the standards for holding international film festivals.
The birth of the Shanghai International Film Festival did not come naturally. Ishikawa told everyone about this unknown tortuous process: as early as 1978, at the National Film Planning Conference, it was proposed to build a multi-functional central theater in Shanghai, but it could not be implemented due to various problems such as funding and site selection. By 1984, the proposal was listed as a key construction project by the Shanghai Municipal Government under the name of "Shanghai Film Art Center", and the purpose of this plan was to host a large international film festival, but it was not built due to financial constraints.
After a series of twists and turns, the Shanghai Municipal Government decided to introduce foreign investment and open bidding to the public. Finally, after four years, the main venue of the Shanghai International Film Festival was built in 1991, Shanghai Cinema And the adjacent Crowne Plaza Silver Star Hotel. At that time, many citizens dragged their families and took the group to visit the "best cinema" and "best hotel" in Shanghai.
From 1993 to 2019
In October 1993, the first Shanghai International Film Festival was held. That year was the lowest period of Chinese cinema, when reform began to enter the cultural field, the cost of film factories rose sharply, and the film industry struggled. The grand holding of the Shanghai International Film Festival has boosted the morale of domestic filmmakers in a timely manner.
"The first Shanghai International Film Festival was very well prepared, the starting point was very high, and the jury lineup was very strong. For example, the famous American director Oliver Stone, the Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, the Australian director Paul Cox, the Russian director Karen Shakhnazarov, etc., invited 33 countries to vote for 160 films. Ishikawa added that the first Shanghai International Film Festival was recognized by FIAPF (International Film Producers Association) as meeting the standards of international A-category film festivals, thus becoming the first and so far only international A-category film festival in China.
Since then, the Shanghai International Film Festival has undergone several major adjustments. The first adjustment was due to the merger of the Radio, Film and Television Bureau and the Film Bureau in 1995, and there was a transfer of administrative authority. The second adjustment was a technological revolution, and in 1999, the Fourth Shanghai International Film Festival for the first time adopted an electronic screen with Chinese subtitles, which solved the problem of language barriers between international films at the festival. The third adjustment was in 2001, when the festival and the festival were merged, and the festival was changed from a biennial to an annual one.
In 2004, the Shanghai International Film Festival added the second most important award, the Asian Newcomer Award, inviting Japanese film critic Tadao Sato, the famous American scholar David Bodeville and the fourth generation of female director Huang Shuqin as the first jury. In 2005, the 8th Shanghai International Film Festival held the Golden Jue Film Forum for the first time, inviting top German director Schlöndorff to conduct a "dialogue between generals and soldiers" with young Chinese and German directors. "The Golden Jubilee Film Forum is an important event that distinguishes the film festival from ordinary commercial screenings, and it provides an open communication platform for filmmakers from all over the world." In 2006, the Ninth Shanghai International Film Festival made a major breakthrough, and for the first time, the French director Luc Besson of "This Killer Is Not Too Cold" served as the chairman of the film festival, which greatly improved the internationalization of the Shanghai International Film Festival.
The story of Ishikawa and the Upper Film Festival
"One of the things I'm proud of is that the ninth and tenth consecutive best picture awards came out of my hands." In addition to telling the ins and outs of the Shanghai International Film Festival, Ishikawa also shared his wonderful stories with the previous Shanghai Film Festivals. Ishikawa has been a film picker for the Festival since 2001, and he once watched 120 German films in one year, and the Golden Jubilee Award for Best Picture "4 Minutes" and "Perfect Plan" were selected by him.
In addition to film selection, Ishikawa also participated in the preparation of many forums and opening ceremonies of the Shanghai Film Festival. The sensational program "Chinese and British Shakespeare" at the opening ceremony of the 19th Shanghai Film Festival originated from his idea. In 2016, the centenary of Shakespeare's birth, Ishikawa proposed that China's Shakespearean Emperor Jiao Huang and Britain's Shakespeare Emperor Ian McLean join forces to stage a Shakespeare play.
The digital restoration of classic films is another important task of Ishikawa at the Upper Film Festival. The first film he worked on the restoration was Stage Sisters directed by Xie Jin, which was completed in collaboration with the world's top Bologna Film Restoration Laboratory. "I think this film is a model for the digital restoration of domestic films, and it establishes a (restoration) standard, that is, to combine our domestic historical documents with foreign technology." In Ishikawa's view, the restoration of classic films is challenging and meaningful.
The fate of Ishikawa and the Upper Film Festival is not only about work, but also about glory. His feature film "Six Hundred Miles to Fuyang" won the Best Director Award at the 14th Shanghai International Film Festival Asian Newcomer Award, and his co-producing documentary "My Poems" won the Golden Jubilee Award for Best Documentary at the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival. This year, the feature film "The First Parting", in which he served as an art consultant, was shortlisted for the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival "Belt and Road" Film Screening Week.
In the interaction with the audience, Ishikawa pointed out that "the management of domestic films is relatively lagging behind, the management methods are still relatively simple, and the film industry promotion law needs to be further improved", and he also hopes that at the moment of the rapid development of the film industry and the film market, the audience can also have more understanding and tolerance.
The "One Character Reading Club" is jointly sponsored by the Propaganda Department of the Jing'an District Party Committee, the Civilization Office and the Study Office, guided by the Shanghai Municipal Research Museum of Literature and History and the Department of Chinese of Fudan University, and hosted by the Avenue Xiaoya Reading Club and the Jing'an District Cultural Center. With the concept of "reading words, knowing culture, and feeling civilization", the activity aims to spread traditional culture among citizens, exchange reading experience, and "only take one word to reach the essence of things".