Right after the release of the shortlist for the second-round selection for Project Pitches of the 10th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) on July 17, 2020, 30 scripts and 10 WIP projects were submitted to the jury. 

  Besides elaborate review on scripts and videos, the jury also needs to prepare questions on screenwriting and production for further discussions with project sponsors in the interview. 

  Following are the members of the jury:

Screenwriter

　　Her novels collection Young Nights in Beijing was published. The film Knitting, adapted from one of her novels, was directed by Yin Lichuan and shortlisted in Directors’ Fortnight at 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Her major screenwriting credits include The Law of Attraction, Under the Hawthorn Tree, A Wedding Invitation, and So Long, My Son. 

  So Long, My Son directed by Wang Xiaoshuai was awarded several honors: the Silver Bear for Best Actor and the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival; the Best Screenplay at the 32nd China Film Golden Rooster Awards; and the Best Screenplay at the 11th event sponsored by Young Film Handbook. 

 

　　Representative films produced by Liang: Mr. Six, My People, My Country and The Eight Hundred 

  Her representative films as an actress: Design Of Death, S.M.A.R.T. Chase, Son of the Stars, The Chef, The Actor, The Scoundrel 

  Her TV plays as an actress: Women's SWAT Team, Black Hole, I'm Looking Forward to Being Loved, Husband and Wife 

  Her representative directorial film: Cannot Be Fixed. 

  Her talent in art and brilliance in acting are fully manifested from past years in the industry. Apart from acting, she has devoted herself to the work behind the screen as an investor and producer. In 2019, she produced and presented the epic war film The Eight Hundred, and co-produced the film My People, My Country, hitting a 3 billion yuan record at the box office amongst the films dedicated to the National Day. In 2020, the Candle in the Tomb: The Lost Caverns co-presented by Liang Jing and Tencent hit 130 million views per episode and 2.35 billion views in the total 18 episodes online and was rated 8.4 at douban, topping the adapted works of Candle in the Tomb franchise as a phenomenal classic in Q1 2020. 

 

　　Classic films: 

  Adoring 

  Adoring is a Chinese romantic comedy-drama film directed by Larry Yang and produced by Xu Zheng. Registering a 700 million yuan at the box office, it has broken down the ceiling of the box office of domestic pet-themed films and paves the way for the development of Chinese pet films.  

  My Other Home 

  Best New Filmmaker of China Movie Channel Media Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival, China in 2017 

  Best Feature Film at the Beijing International Sports Film Week in 2017 

  Mountain Cry 

  Projects with Greatest Commercial Potential of the 4th BJIFF Project Pitches in 2014 

  Closing film of the Busan International Film Festival in 2015 

  Best Screenplay and Best Director of the China Movie Channel Media Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival, China in 2016 

  Shortlisted in domestic and overseas film festivals (e.g. Hong Kong International Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival)  

  The second-round selection jury is composed of renowned directors, screenwriters and producers. A Mei is adept at capturing fine sentiments and depicting figures. She will focus on the in-depth analysis and comprehensive evaluation on projects from the perspective of the logic of screenplay, and growth of characters, among others; Liang Jing has been discovering and supporting talented filmmakers on the front line and will assist young creators in understanding film production in terms of practical operation. 

  It is worth mentioning that the film Mountain Cry directed by Larry Yang was awarded the Projects with Greatest Commercial Potential at the 4th BJIFF Project Pitches, which made him a famous director. This year, he returns as a jury member with sharper ideas on projects. His experience enables him to help young filmmakers develop all feasible ways of project development in their perspectives. 

  The jury will review the shortlisted projects with more stringent standards on script completeness, content creativity & operability, team & production budget, etc. The jury will have in-depth talks with project creators and review their presentations at the second-round selection on August 6-7, 2020.

  After the interview, the jury will hold a closed-door session to select 10 pitching projects and 6 WIP projects for final-round selection – road show, and then all the winners will be finalized. Moreover, the jury will select 10 pitching projects from the second-round selection to join the industrial negotiations with the aforesaid 16 projects. 

  Are you ready for the selections?