With the advent of the spring, the Final Jury for Project Pitches of the 14th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) was officially announced. Stanley Kwan, director, producer and executive producer from Hong Kong, China, will serve as President of the Final Jury, while Chinese director and actor Dong Chengpeng (also known as “Da Peng”), actor Liu Haoran, Derek Tsang, director and executive producer from Hong Kong, China, and director and screenwriter Zhang Mo (in alphabetical order of the first characters of their names in Chinese) will serve as members. Veteran filmmakers and young forces will work together to decide on quality projects.

　Final Jury for 14th BJIFF Project Pitches

The BJIFF Project Pitches section is a cradle for young filmmakers, and countless works starting here have found the soil that is most suitable for their projects. This year, the Project Pitches section has invited prestigious directors and senior actors to support new forces in the film industry, and help filmmakers realize their movie dreams.

Director Stanley Kwan is well-known for depicting female characters, and many female stars like Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung, Sammi Cheng and Chingmy Yau have shined brilliantly under his camera. Classic character images in his works have become an integral part of the film history in Hong Kong, China.

In 1985, Kwan started his career as a director with the film Women. Later on, thanks to the romance Rouge, he was honored as the Best Director at the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards. This film, which came out at the preliminary stage of his directing career, already revealed his extremely mature narrative level and emotional construction ability, becoming one of his representative works. In 1991, Center Stage was released, a biopic that perfectly combined Kwan's image expressiveness with Maggie Cheung’s role interpretation, making the legendary actress Ruan Lingyu glow on the big screen again. This film was nominated for the Competition section of the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival, and helped Kwan win the Best Director at the 28th Chicago International Film Festival. It's worth mentioning that with her win for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival, Maggie Cheung became the first-ever Chinese actress to win this award.

In the past few years, Kwan has been dedicated to cultivating new filmmakers, supporting their works and even volunteering as an executive producer, in hope of helping their works hit cinemas as soon as possible. Fly Me to the Moon, a film shortlisted for the Forward Future section of this year's BJIFF and produced by Kwan, has already won numerous awards. The film will be screened during the 14th BJIFF.

Director Kwan also has a deep connection with the BJIFF. In 2020, he delivered a lecture at the 10th BJIFF Workshop & Masterclass themed “Hong Kong Film: Inheritance of Tradition and Development for Surpassing”. In 2023, he also served as a member of the Tiantan Award Jury for the 13th BJIFF, and exchanged views with the audience at the Meet-and-greet with Cast & Crew of the film Rouge at the Beijing Film Panorama section. In the past few years, Stanley Kwan has shared his experience with young filmmakers at many film festivals and industry events. With the leadership of such a patient and responsible master, we believe that this year's Project Pitches section will surely usher in a fruitful creative journey for young filmmakers.

Dong Chengpeng is well-known to the audience as an actor, and later walked on a path of creation with his unique style. With regards to acting, he is good at portraying comic images of nobodies. He was once a nominee of many important acting awards, such as Asian Film Awards and Hong Kong Film Awards for I Am Not Madame Bovary, City of Rock, Dust To Dust and other films, and won the Golden Goblet Award for Best Actor at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

In 2015, he started to transit from performance creation to content creation. His theatrical debut Jian Bing Man was the third highest-grossing film at the box office of the summer holiday that year, marking a good start for his creation. Musical has always been a niche genre in the Chinese film market due to a different viewing habit. However, the City of Rock, a film which was written, directed and acted by Dong, was a success and topped the box office chart of musicals in Chinese mainland with a revenue of 459 million yuan. His latest works, The Reunions, Post Truth, and One and Only, have harvested both high box office returns and a good reputation.

Dong also has a connection with the BJIFF. In 2020, he exchanged views with the audience at the Meet-and-greet with Cast & Crew of the film The Reunions at the Out-of-Competition Section. Last year, at a Theme Forum activity titled “Exploration, Pursuit and Creation of Realistic Films”, Dong and excellent filmmakers from home and abroad together discussed the creative path of realistic films. Dong has an abundance of experience in both directing and acting, and we believe that he will bring fresh creative perspectives to this year's Project Pitches section.

Liu Haoran, member of Final Jury for Project Pitches

Liu Haoran, an actor in Chinese mainland, graduated from the Central Academy of Drama majoring in acting. He debuted in the film Beijing Love Story at the age of 17. In 2015, he played a leading role for the first time in the Detective Chinatown franchise, one of the most influential and best-selling IPs in the current Chinese film market, with three movies grossing over 9 billion yuan at the box office. The success in the box office is also a recognition of his acting skills. Thanks to the Detective Chinatown series, Liu won the 20th Huading Award for Best Newcomer, and became the youngest nominee for the People’s Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actor. Notably, The Breaking Ice starring Liu was shortlisted for the Un Certain Regard section of the 76th Festival de Cannes. This also proves that his works are not only welcomed by the Chinese mainland market, but also recognized internationally.

Liu Haoran is also an old friend of the BJIFF. At the Theme Forum of the 12th BJIFF titled “Exploration, Pursuit and Creation of ‘Peak’ Films”, he shared valuable creative experience of his own.

Derek Tsang, member of Final Jury for Project Pitches

Director Derek Tsang keeps trying to blend the extremely strong personal style in films of different genres, and excels in focusing on different characters from a delicate perspective and inclusively expressing care for individual values. His representative works include Soul Mate (2016), Better Days (2019), etc. The film Soul Mate is an adaptation of Annie Baby's novel of the same name. Adaptation is always difficult, but Tsang has set a good example for similar topics with this film, which depicts the mixed feelings between two women, enjoying widespread popularity among the audience. This film has received 11 nominations at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards and four at the 31st Golden Rooster Awards. Subsequently, the film Better Days grossing 1.558 billion yuan topped the box office chart of youth films in Chinese mainland, which has cemented Tsang's position in the film market. The film won eight awards at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best New Performer. Internationally, the film was nominated for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, and selected into the Generation 14plus section of the 69th Berlin International Film Festival.

It will be the first time for director Tsang to attend the BJIFF as a member of the Final Jury for Project Pitches. We also expect him to analyze the film market from a different perspective and share more unique views.

Zhang Mo, member of Final Jury for Project Pitches

Director Zhang Mo is always willing to try and explore different movie genres without limitations, and keeps pushing her boundary as a creator. In 2016, she walked in front of the audience with her debut feature Suddenly Seventeen, which won the Best Debut Film at the 14th Changchun Film Festival in 2018. In 2022, Zhang co-directed Snipers, a film about the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, with director Zhang Yimou, which grossed a box office of 600 million yuan during the Spring Festival holiday. The film was awarded the Best Works Award for the spiritual civilization construction (film category), shortlisted for the 35th Golden Rooster Award for Best Director, and a nominee of the Golden-Lotus Award for Best Directing at the 14th Macau International Movie Festival. She had an attempt of a new genre next year with the suspense film Last Suspect, which won the Most Anticipated Chinese Film of the Year at the China Golden Rooster & Hundred Flowers Film Festival in 2023 and the New Force Director of the Year 2023 by Douyin.

We hope that Zhang Mo, a director with both international vision and local creative experience, can share her views, and help young filmmakers have a better understanding of Chinese film market.

This April, let's expect the Final Jury for Project Pitches to get together at the BJIFF, nurturing creators with professional vision and helping young filmmaker realize their movie dreams.