On April 16th, the day when the 9th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) kicked off, filmmakers gathered at Beijing International Hotel. A number of impressive activities were successfully rolled out, where there were a comprehensive range of industry exchanges and project cooperation.

　　At the bustling Beijing Film Market, the International Film Trading Zone is most buzz-worthy

　　At the Beijing International Hotel (Conference Center) early in the morning, the Beijing Film Market was mobbed by guests from far and near, where the exhibition booths were crowded with a wide swath of visitors.

　　This year’s Exhibition puts the creation of the “Film Factor Transaction Platform” at its core. Based on the practical needs of the film markets at home and abroad, it covers the whole industry chain of film and invites targeted key exhibitors at home and abroad to collectively promote and showcase their projects and make further cooperation. The International Film Trading Zone was successfully launched. Overseas distribution companies were specially invited to communicate with the visitors on site, pulling the Beijing Film Market into line with the international market. The zone serves as a new bridge for exchanges in copyright between the film markets in Beijing and in the world.

　　Ambitious young filmmakers are about to embark on a new journey to fulfilling their dreams

　　As one of the important sections of the Beijing Film Market, the final road show of Project Pitches kicked off amid a heated atmosphere. Before the opening of the road show, Wang Jue, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee of the Beijing International Film Festival, delivered a speech, followed by 11 pitching projects and 6 WIP projects that were assessed by the three final-round selection judges on site. The committee of the final-round selection jury of this year’s Project Pitches was chaired by the famous director Guan Hu, with another two members–the famous producer and screenwriter Zhang Jialu and Alibaba Pictures SVP Li Jie. The three judges provided comments and guidance on the shortlisted projects one by one.

　　After the road show, the final-round selection jury selected the winners of four awards for pitching projects and two for WIP projects at a private session. For this year’s event, the Marketing Decision Group consisting of representatives of 20 film and television companies comprehensively scored in film production, market enforceability, commercial potential and other dimensions from the industry perspective, and then voted for the Most Market Focus Award, aiming to facilitate the integration of projects and the market. All the Project Pitches awards will be officially announced at the Project Pitches Award Cocktail Party on the evening of April 17th.

　　Industry hot topics are explored at the Events & Activities that is deeply rooted in the film market

　　On the first day of the event, the Events & Activities sector brought a wealth of wonderful content to the visitors. On the morning that day, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in partnership with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Copyright and other organizations hosted the “Film and Copyright Forum: Co-Existence of Opportunities and Challenges”, exploring the status quo of copyright protection and its new countermeasures. At the China Film Distribution and Marketing Forum presented by Entgroup, Gao Shouzhi, CEO of Entgroup analyzed how promotion and distribution fit for the purpose of “advertising”, while strengthening the efforts to extend the word of mouth and unleashing the maximum value of the film.

　　On the afternoon, a range of promotion conferences were held, with the topics covering the films produced in Ukraine and the countries along the “Belt and Road”, among others. Meanwhile, the topics like science fiction aesthetics, film boundaries, and digital production were what other activities focused on.

　　On April 17th, we will bring more inspiring content, share growth experience, and firm our determination to pursue dreams. For example, “Industrial Dialogue: Rise of Chinese Young Directors” will be running at 1:30 PM in Function Room 8, 2F, Beijing International Hotel (Conference Center); the annual MPA Workshop will start accurately at 9:00 AM in the Lecture Hall, 2F, Beijing International Hotel (Conference Center)!