On April 16, Documentary Section of the 8th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) opened in the Communication University of China. As the independent unit of the BJIFF, this year’s Documentary Section is organized by the Organizing Committee of the BJIFF, and undertaken by the BTV Documentary Channel, Communication University of China and the China Intercontinental Communication Center. It set up five sections of review, information release, forum, solicitation, and panorama. With the theme of “New Era·New Mission”, it is dedicated to exploring the development path of documentary film as well as the reform and development road of the documentary industry.
Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the BJIFF, and President of Communication University of China Mr. Liao Xiangzhong delivered a speech and proposed that with the advent of a new era, new things should also appear.
In the journey of the new era, culture has become an important support for the economic and social development, an important source of national cohesion and creativity, and an important element of comprehensive national strength competition. The documentary, as an art form taking images as the carrier and events as objects, has gradually expanded its influence.
“In the four years of the success of Documentary Section, activities such as forum, panorama, and salon have attracted the attention of the domestic and foreign documentary film industry, which strongly promoted the integration and development of the national documentary film industry. ” said Li Lingtao, Working Committee Chairman of the 8th BJIFF Documentary Section and Deputy Chief Editor of Beijing TV Station. In addition, this year’s Documentary Section will also devote itself to new explorations, namely, the reform and development road of documentary and documentary industries.
From the selection process of excellent documentary this year, we can see the remarkable achievements of documentary made in recent years. Born in China, Earth: One Amazing Day, Twenty Two and many other documentaries have obtained high box office after release, which raised the attention and discussion of people both inside and outside of the industry. The large-scale documentary Amazing China released shortly ago records the great achievements China has made in the past five years with the brilliant, generous, and magnificent shooting methods. The box office and word of mouth continue to rise.
The documentary is like the photo album of a country. It is always associated with the national progress and history of the country, and witnesses the growth of the country and nation. It is the mission and responsibility of each documentary filmmaker to tell Chinese stories well and spread Chinese spirit. In the process of building advanced socialist culture, the documentary bears an important role in promoting national culture.
The Organizing Committee of the BJIFF has particularly set up Documentary Section since 2014. It has built a platform for people who like recording images from all over the world to observe, discuss, and learn from each other, improved the influence of BJIFF in the documentary field and promoted the development of documentary.
In this Documentary Section this year, the China-Hong Kong Joint Documentary Working Committee, Beijing Tianchengjiahua Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. and the Faculty of Journalism and Communication of Communication University of China will sign a strategic cooperation agreement on the “National Culture Journey”, a documentary of major project for the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. At the same time, BTV Documentary Channel will also co-produce a series of large-scale documentaries of Born in the 1990s with the image action training camp, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication of Communication University of China.
In order to strengthen the exchanges, mutual understanding and cultural integration of countries along the “Belt and Road” initiative, this year’s Documentary Section will also hold the Theme Day for “Belt and Road” and the 2nd Anniversary for Media Communication Alliance Conference. With regard to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, there will be related themes to meet with the public during the Documentary Section period. Many excellent documentaries will also be displayed during the period. In short, the joining of multiple forces will use a more international perspective and professional guidances to inject new breath into the development of Chinese documentary and push the Chinese documentaries into a more prosperous era.