The screening ceremony and closing ceremony of the 2021 "See China, Foreign Youth Film Project Shanghai Tour" was held yesterday afternoon at the 406 Theater of the Vancouver Film Academy in Shanghai. Eight young foreign directors from South Korea, Mexico, Ukraine, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Botswana and other countries completed eight wonderful documentary short films with the theme of "Family, Homeland, Home Country" and with the one-on-one assistance of Chinese volunteers. In the process of creation, Chinese and foreign young people have searched and felt all the way, and they are not only moved to tears by the dreams of every ordinary and kind ordinary person, but also deeply shocked by the national enthusiasm contained in it. The home is the smallest country, and the country is tens of millions. The touching feelings of family and country in the short film not only triggered the creator's whimsical ideas, but also left an extremely deep impression on every audience present.
Illustration: The scene of the closing ceremony Courtesy of the organizer (the same below)
"To see China, you must look at Shanghai"
Gao Feng, distinguished professor of Beijing Normal University, executive dean of the Chinese Culture International Communication Research Institute, vice chairman of the Chinese Culture Promotion Association, and former deputy director of CCTV, said on behalf of the organizers of "Looking at China": "To see China, you must look at Shanghai, because Shanghai is one of the symbols of China. ”
Yan Sanjiu, dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Shanghai University, used three key words to express his feelings about participating in this event. The first is "congratulations", congratulating teachers and students for completing eight wonderful films after twenty days of hard work; secondly, "experience", which is not only an individual life experience, but also a diversified cultural experience; and the last key word is "blessing", wishing all Chinese and foreign young people and guidance teachers a better future.
Jiang Weimin, executive dean of the Shanghai Vancouver Film School of Shanghai University, said that there were many unexpected places in this event, and it is precisely because of this that it has left a deeper memory. "In this year's event, foreign young directors and Chinese producers explained and excavated the concept of 'home' yesterday, today and in the future through various ways from the inside to the outside, from the outside to the inside. This year's directors are very creative, and they have given these seemingly ordinary themes special imagination space with their whimsy. ”
A total of 8 high-quality short films participated in the screening activities, including "Love shanghai", "Fish in the River", "China's Security Guard - Guardian of the Homeland", "Man in a Boat", "Song of New China", "Baby in the Next Generation", "Flowers on the Sea", "I Want to Have a Home", showing many themes with Shanghai characteristics and the atmosphere of the times, such as caring for autistic children, Chinese qipao, generational baby, and the marriage and love needs of contemporary people.
"Telling a Moving Story of China"
The film screening is divided into four parts. The first is "I Want to Have a Home" and "Fish in the River", two films focus on blind dates and autistic children respectively, telling simple and moving stories with real and natural words, conveying the desire of each of us ordinary people for home.
Surprisingly, the protagonists of the two films "I Want to Have a Home" and "Fish in the River", Ping Pingjie, Teacher Chen Jie and Xiangxiang, also came to the scene. Sister Pingping, who came to the stage, was a little excited, and this was probably the first time she had walked into the spotlight to tell her story to everyone. Despite the hardships of life, she still believes in love. The film hopes that all young people like Pingpingjie, who are running for their lives, can bravely pursue what they love and find their own happiness.
Teacher Chen Jie, the founder of Shanghai Qingcongquan Children's Intelligent Training Center, also came to the scene, and she expressed her deep gratitude for the activity, because everyone's understanding of autism may only stay on the surface, so the road explored by Qingcongquan is very necessary to pass on the children's voices to more people through images.
In fact, Xiangxiang's heart is also full of touch and desire for the campus, he also has a dream of going to school, but because of autism and can not be realized. When he came to the beautiful campus, he looked a little excited, he looked curiously at the flickering screen, immersed in his own happy world, perhaps his world also had a wonderful world that we did not know. Seeing this, the audience at the scene was all moved. Zhou Quan, deputy director of the smg Documentary Center and director of the first season of "The World on Earth", expressed his affirmation and appreciation for the two films, "Looking at China" is most importantly the people who watch China, and the two films show us the lives of the urban people around us, which is a good perspective.
Pictured: The scene of the closing ceremony
"Focus on unique Shanghai culture"
The next screening of the film "Sea Flower" and "Love Shanghai" respectively focused on the Shanghai qipao and Shanghai ballads with very Shanghai characteristics, showing us the colorful charm of Shanghai from the dual perspectives of sight and listening. Yu Zhiqing, vice president and secretary general of the Shanghai Radio, Film and Television Production Industry Association, spoke highly of the two films, and he believes that the production level of the two works has moved closer to the cinema blockbuster.
"Presenting a Unique Chinese Phenomenon"
"China's Security - Guardians of the Homeland" and "Generations with Babies" focus on groups and phenomena with very traditional Chinese cultural characteristics. "China Security - Guardian of the Homeland" adopts a very popular experiential reporting form, our foreign young director incarnated as a Chinese security guard, personally experienced the life of a security guard, and the interesting expression triggered a burst of laughter from the audience. Chi Junjie, the film's producer, said that director Daniel (Daniel), a British who has lived in China for five years, feels that Chinese security guards are very important people in his life, and many things that security guards do are very different from foreign countries. Daniel, whose sideline is a short video platform influencer, attaches great importance to personal experience, so they choose a similar way of expression to short videos.
Ms. Liu Qi, deputy editor-in-chief of "Shanghai Daily", keenly sees the new way of documentary expression from the perspective of professional media people, and she believes that the significance of the film "Generations with Babies" lies in expressing the family concept of Chinese to foreigners, "Because of cultural differences, it may be difficult for foreigners to understand the phenomenon of taking babies across generations, but in China, the dedication and sacrifice of the previous generation need an opportunity for expression." ”
"Excavating the Enterprising Chinese Spirit"
The last films screened were "The Man in a Boat" and "The Song of New China". As a custom of the dragon boat festival, a traditional Chinese festival, dragon boat racing in the new era has condensed the blood and passion of a group of people, who are people in a boat, that is, a family. They played together, laughed together, celebrated together, sweat and tears, which was the greatest emotion and the best blessing. Seeing the dragon boat crew on the screen running together to the finish line, and hearing their uniform slogans echoing in their ears, the audience could not help but cheer up.
Chen Xiaoda, associate professor of shanghai film school at Shanghai University, participated in the "See China" activity as early as 2013, and his works have improved qualitatively compared with previous years. Recalling the past, Professor Chen can't help but sigh with emotion - "full of memories, full of emotions, full of joy." ”
The foreign instructor and senior producer of this event, Odet Abadia(Abbadia), who has participated in the "See China Shanghai Tour" activity for two consecutive years, believes that in the process of creation, the real story may be very different from the original idea. "But it doesn't matter, let life surprise you. The magic of looking at China is that it opens a window that we don't even know. She expressed her affirmation and encouragement for the efforts of young foreign directors and Chinese producers, saying: "In the process of post-production, when you get feedback from us, you may be a little broken and have to go back to the newsroom again and again." But thankfully, in the process, you can look back at the material, discover new inspiration, and find better ways to tell stories. Not only have you improved your storytelling skills, but you've also opened up your curiosity about another culture. She sincerely hopes that the deep friendships forged in this process will be remembered forever.
The event was hosted by the Institute of Chinese Culture and International Communication of Beijing Normal University and the Huilin Cultural Fund, jointly organized by the Shanghai Vancouver Film Academy of Shanghai University and the School of Journalism and Communication of Shanghai University, and provided academic support by the Film and Television Education Professional Committee of the China Higher Education Association. (Chief reporter of Xinmin Evening News, Sun Jiayin)