At 2:00PM on August 17, 2022, the 12th BJIFF Game-Based Animated Films Section Animation Forum will be grandly held at the Yangsong Town Comprehensive Cultural Center, Huairou District, Beijing. 

　　

　　The forum themed with "Rising of Chinese Animation: The Glorious Journey and Cultural Self-Confidence" will focus on the development of Chinese animation films in the past century and the booming market-oriented Chinese animation industry. A number of senior Chinese animation practitioners will be invited to look into the rise of Chinese animation from the perspectives of modern interpretation of traditional culture, integration of Chinese aesthetics with animation and industrialization of animation techniques, and discuss the cultural self-confidence and future direction of Chinese animation. 

　　▍Important guests will get together to discuss the development of the industry

　　The forum themed with “Rising of Chinese Animation: The Glorious Journey and Cultural Self-Confidence” will be held in the form of keynote speeches and roundtable dialogues. Ma Hua, a professor of Animation School, Beijing Film Academy, will serve as the moderator and the panelists (in no particular order) include: Chen Bo, Deputy Director of Shanghai Animation Film Studio, Yu Zhou, Co-founder of Light Chaser Animation, Cheng Haiming, producer and presenter of I Am What I Am, Gao Weihua, producer of Legend of Deification, Wang Shuang, creative producer and senior film planner, Song Lei, director of R&D Department of China Animation Comic Game Group. 

　　

　　Ma Hua

　　Professor of Animation School, Beijing Film Academy

　　He served as a judge for the 29th, 33rd and 34th Golden Rooster Awards, the 15th Huabiao Film Awards, the Magnolia Awards of the 24th Shanghai TV Festival; a screenwriter creating multiple animation films such as Kuiba, Xiao Bing Zhang Ga , Yugo & Lala IV, Axel：Adventures of the Spacekids, Monkey King, Fuwa’s Journey to Olympics. 

　　

　　Chen Bo

　　Representative works: animation films Goodbye, Snowman, RANBIWA, Dear Tutu: Delicacy Rhapsody, The Adventure of Afanti, Dear Tutu: The T-Rex In Operation; short art films Four Seasons, Beginning of Autumn, Harvest, New Three-Way Junction; animation series Family Mein Daily, Music Up Reborn; 4D sci-fi cartoon The Firefly, etc. 

　　

　　Yu Zhou

　　Co-founder of Light Chaser Animation

　　Animation film: Little Door Gods, Tea Pets, Cats and Peachtopia producer; White Snake, New Gods: Nezha Reborn, Green Snake, New Gods: Yang Jian, producer. 

　　

　　Cheng Haiming

　　2020, producer and presenter of I Am What I Am, animation film; 2018, Kungfood cinema film; 2014~2016, Kungfood, Children's animation, presenter and producer, 160 episodes in 3 seasons, won the ratings and word-of-mouth champions of CCTV and various Satellite TVs many times; 2016~2017, presenter and producer of children's animation Neo Bear (season 1~2), which won the ratings champion of children's animation at CCTV.

　　

　　Gao Weihua

　　producer of Legend of Deification and founder of One&All Animation Studio

　　Professor and doctoral supervisor of Anima, Communication University of China, producer and director of animation film. She graduated from the Communication University of China with a Ph.D. of Arts. In 2000, she participated in the establishment of animation discipline of the Communication University of China, and initiated the establishment of "China (Beijing) International College Student Animation Festival" in 2006. She has been engaged in the creation of film and television animations with Chinese humanism and the research of industrial model for a long time. Her representative works include the TV animation series The Legend of Huainanzi and the animated film Legend of Deification.

　　

　　Wang Shuang

　　creative producer, senior film planner

　　Member of the Committee of Science-Film & Television Integration, China Science Writers Association, former vice president of Octmedia. Representative projects: cinema film Monkey King: Hero is Back, Ne Zha, Deep Sea, The Monkey King Havoc in Heaven. 

　　

　　Song Lei 

　　Director of R&D Department of China Animation Comic Game Group

　　Young Top Talent of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, member of China Literary and Art Critics Association, now the Director of R&D Department of China Animation Comic Game Group. He has published more than 140 articles on the animation industry in newspapers and periodicals, more than 300 reviews on animation film, and he’s the author of 6 academic monographs including The Marketing of Cartoon Characters. 

　　▍Root in fertile soil of culture, rebloom the industry of Chinese animation 

　　In the past years, the animation market in China has witnessed a series of excellent works, such as Monkey King: Hero is Back, Ne Zha, Legend of Deification, White Snake, New Gods: Nezha Reborn, I Am What I Am. The emergence of popular themed works has brought infinite vitality to the entire market, and made more film and television practitioners realize that only when Chinese animation is rooted in our own culture and emotions can we enhance the appeal of the works and truly arouse the empathy with the audience. While inheriting the excellent Chinese culture, we cannot avoid the innovative adaptation. All the Chinese animations with high box office and good reputation have just endowed traditional folk stories with a core of the new era, which points out the direction for more high-quality Chinese animations in the future. 

　　The forum themed “Rising of Chinese Animation: The Glorious Journey and Cultural Self-Confidence” will focus on the aforesaid topics to discuss how creators should conduct theme innovation beyond the traditional mythology; how to regard the originality and adaptation of Chinese animation; how to fully explore the IP value of Chinese animation; how should the animation film and industry adjust the development model and preserve the industrial vitality under the situation of COVID-19 pandemic… 

　　Review the past, based on the present and look into the future. After the wonderful round-table dialogue, the forum themed “Rising of Chinese Animation: The Glorious Journey and Cultural Self-Confidence” will also focus on the animation films in Chinese market. A series of films not only carry the dreams of countless animators, but also the backbone of the continuous rise of Chinese animation, such as Monkey King: Flaming Mountain, RANBIWA, New Gods: Yang Jian, Lin Mo, Shadow Diver, God with Three Eyes, Deep Sea, etc.

　　With regard to the profound issues related to the industrial development, all the distinguished guests will exchange opinions, present ideas, share experience and reach consensus by mutual inspiration to strengthen the confidence of filmmakers and animators to find new opportunities in the challenges and value the responsibility as a creator. “Travel into the Future with Light and Shadow”, let’s look forward to the grand event of the industry!