The 11th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) is scheduled to be held from September 21 to September 29, 2021. The opening and closing films of the Festival that have attracted much attention have finally been announced. The Battle at Lake Changjin and Saturday Fiction will meet audience respectively at the Opening Ceremony and Closing & Awards Ceremony. 

 

BJIFF has been committed to encouraging the typological development of Chinese films, exploring and recommending excellent Chinese films with both commercial and artistic features through different unit settings. Over the years, with the support of the industry, the BJIFF has gradually found its own direction and principles according to the development directions of the Chinese market.

 

Over the past decade, Chinese films have enjoyed a thriving market and promising industrial prospects. Audience taste has improved and changed several times. Both the wonders of industrialization and traditional realism have their own story space. When Hong Kong's neophyte directors tried to enter into the Chinese mainland market, the BJIFF selected Helios by Lok Man Leung and Kim-ching Luk as the closing film (2015); at the moment of seeking a breakthrough in suspense and thriller, the BJIFF selected A or B as the opening film (2018); when theme films were exploring orientation, the BJIFF selected The Composer as the closing film (2019). These types and themes have their ups and downs in the past decade, but the significance of the platform provided by the BJIFF has never changed. This is the choice of a mature film festival: professional diversity and the courage to promote innovation.

 

This year, Chinese films have recovered as a whole, and the theme film has also completed the evolution from exploration to formation. The Battle at Lake Changjin, released on September 30, cannot come at a better time as the opening film. It is backed by a heroic war background, based on positive commemorative significance and guaranteed by the large investment in famous director and stars from big film studio. In terms of both industrial strength and creative choice, the film can represent the high level of Chinese war films in recent years.

 

If The Battle at Lake Changjin represents an industrial strength, then Saturday Fiction shows a personality and style of author. This style is embodied in its global perspective and international lineup composed of Joe Odagiri, Ayumu Nakajima, Pascal Greggory and Tom Wlaschiha. Its style is also reflected in the script structure of the play within play, the black-and-white picture style, and the director's iconic hand-held photography. This film is not only featured with Lou Ye's praiseworthy skills, but also his keen innovation to challenge new themes and styles. What chemistry is there between Gong Li, who is good at figuring out and grasping the essence of roles, and Lou Ye, who is good at exploiting the talent of performers? Movie fans are fully expecting it in this work that integrates both fascinating subject and human touch, a work that is most ideal as an ending to the film festival.