The first press conference of the 7th Beijing International Film Festival was held on March 23rd, which released the general plan, The Jury President of Tiantan Award, list of first films for the Beijing Film Panorama, preparation of the film market and the Film Concert and official poster, and presented “Beijing Film Panorama” signs to cinemas. Hu Dong, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press Publication,Deputy Director-in-chief of China Radio International,Radio,Film and Television and Standing Secretary-General of the Beijing International Film Festival Organizing Committee, Li Ping, Wang Jue, Editor-in-chief of BTV and Standing Secretary-General of the Beijing International Film Festival Organizing Committee, Zhang Xiaoguang, Associate Librarian of China Film Archive and Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing International Film Festival Organizing Committee, Bian Jianguo, Sub-inspector of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press Publication, Radio, Film and Television and Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing International Film Festival Organizing Committee, Ai Dongyun, Vice Editor-in-chief of BTV and Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing International Film Festival Organizing Committee and Qie Chunlai, Performance Director of Beijing Performance & Arts Group and General Manager of Beijing BPA Culture and Communication Co, Ltd.

　　The 7th Beijing International Film Festival is well ready for opening

　　A total of over 300 activities, including such seven major sections as “Tiantan Award” Competition, Opening Ceremony, Beijing Film Panorama, Theme Forum, Film Market, Film Carnival, Closing & Awards Ceremony of Tiantan Award, and others like Forward Future Section, Documentary Section, Classical Peking Opera Film Section, Online Film Section, Film Concert, Film Salon,  Industry Conversations and New Film Release will be presented in the Beijing International Film Festival.

　　1. Global excellent films compete for the “Tiantan Award”

　　The “Tiantan Award” has solicited the outstanding films put forward after January 1, 2016, with preference given to those of global premieres. Nominated films come no fewer than 15. Meanwhile, an International Jury composed of 7 renowned filmmakers will select the 10 awards and present them at the Closing Ceremony.

　　2. Grand opening and closing ceremony with a galaxy of film stars

　　Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be held in the State Production Base of China Film Group respectively on April 16 and 23. On the Closing Ceremony, the ten awards of the “Tiantan Award” will be announced and granted. By then, Chinese and foreign film stars and industry elites will attend the opening and closing ceremony as well as the red carpet, including Monica Bellucci, Emir Kusturica, Ben Kingsley and Sylvia Chang.

　　3. Diversified and inclusive Film Panorama

　　The Film Panorama campaigns that will take place in over 30 film institutions and universities of Beijing from April 8th-23rd have furnished over 500 outstanding global films of multiple themes, styles and countries, for which the out-of-competition sections are arranged on the basis of Arts Appreciation, Popular Entertainment and International exchanges, such as the Tribute to Antonioni Section, the Comedy Section and the Fast and the Furious Series. Screening venues cover commercial cinemas, professional film institutions and universities across Beijing. During the Panorama, crews of key films will be invited to Beijing for meeting the audience before and after screening. Maintaining its affordability, the Film Panorama this year is well ready to serve fans and guests of Beijing International Film Festival  through accessible online and offline ticket channels.

　　4. Premium film forum with focus on the frontier

　　The Theme Forum will hold the following four theme sessions: The Sino-Foreign Film Co-production Forum to be held on April 17th will focus on topics like market status and coordination of co-productions; The China Film Distribution Summit on April 18th will reflect the relations of film distribution and Internet + in the context of diversification; The International Digital Cinema Technology Forum on April 19th is themed as film quality improvement and upgrading driven by technological innovations. The venue for the said forums is Beijing International Hotel. Besides, the Summit on the Beauty of Film to be held in China National Film Museum on April 22nd will go deep into the film development under the Belt & Road Initiative and the new pattern of the global film industry.

　　5. Professional services in the film market with active participation of exhibitors

　　The Film Market section that will take place from April 19th to April 21st in Beijing International Hotel will furnish key domestic and foreign enterprises, major international cooperation projects, producers and distributors with Exhibition, Project Pitches, Industry Conversations, Events & Activities, Contract Signing Ceremony, etc. By far, the number of enterprises registered online for the Film Market has topped 212, Project Pitches has received a total of 712 projects and 4 industry conversations and 21 events＆activities have been confirmed.

　　6. Abundant Carnival activities attract wide participation

　　The Film Carnival will take place in Yangsong Town of Huairou District, the State Production Base of China Film Group and Stellar Mega Jincheng Movie-Making Base from April 15th -May 1st. By means of Film Theme Day, interactive effect experience, theme show and sales of film derivatives, the Carnival will fully extend the key elements of the film industry to align with public needs and to build an interactive entertainment bridge between the film industry and the audience. The abundant film-themed activities will exert appreciation enthusiasm of audience on the film arts and promote their understanding on the film culture, so as to realize the goals of the broadest public participation and most efficient film publicity.

　　Apart from that, activities including the Forward Future Section, Documentary Section, Classical Peking Opera Film Section, Online Film Section, Film Concert, Film Salon, Industry Conversations and New Film Release will be presented in the Beijing International Film Festival.

　　Bille August Chairs International Jury of “Tiantan Award”

　　The "Tiantan Award" has invited several renowned filmmakers of the world's film industry and assigned Bille August as the president of the International Jury.

　　Born in 1948, Bill majored in Film Director at National Film School of Denmark in the last 70s. The exquisite film expressions and the profound interpretation of the reality in his directorial debut In My Life in 1978 brought fresh wind to the dull and depressing North Europe after Borgman and showed him up in the North Europe movie circle. By far, Bille August has directed 19 movies. ZAPPA, a film by Bille in 1982 focusing on children, gifted him with an established reputation across the whole Europe and drew great attention in the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. Pelle Erobreren, a film directed by him in 1987, returned him world-level honors, the Golden Palm of the 41st Cannes Film Festival in 1988, followed by the 1989 Academy Awards (Oscars) and the 46th Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The Den goda viljan in 1992 won him again the Golden Palm of the 45th Cannes Film Festival. His Goodbye Bafana in 2007 was nominated for the Festival Crystal Bear Award of the 57th Berlin International Film.

　　Besides multiple film awards, Bille August, as a film director, was awarded Order of the Danneborg, Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar.svg and Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

　　Bille August also expressed his recognition on the Tiantan Award of Beijing International Film Festival and expected to select excellent works reflecting the film development level of the contemporary world.

　　Welcome to Beijing to Watch the Best Films in Spring. First Movie List for Beijing Film Panorama Announced

　　1. Most splendid film feast in spring highlighting international elements

　　The curation, invitation, screening, publicity, promotion and other work of Beijing Film Panorama this year are undertaken by China Film Archive and relevant organizations. With the goal of "Welcome to Beijing for the Best Movies in Spring" and a combination of means including directed invitation of movies, cooperative invitation and individual application, we have selected nearly 500 pieces of works out of over two thousand movies from over 100 countries and regions, which will be screened in over 30 commercial cinemas, artistic cinemas and university cinemas in Beijing for 16 days. This will also become the film international celebration of the largest scale in capital Beijing this year.

　　2. Intensive excellent works and abundant out-of-competition section

　　As an international public film festival, one opening film and one closing film have been arranged for Beijing International Film Festival; 15 movies from different countries have been nominated in the Competition Section. In the "Review of Works of President of the Organizing Committee" section, 4 masterpieces by the President of different periods will meet the public.

　　Beijing Film Panorama this year will also dedicate such two sections as “Person of Focus” and “Tribute to Masters” to the creations of the following three outstanding filmmakers, namely, Sylvia Chang, an all-round talented lady in the movie world,  David Lynch, talent of the US cult films, and Michelangelo Antonioni, the Italian Master. Among them, the theme for the Tenth Anniversary of Antonioni’s Death presents greatest abundances, covering 13 movies from his first long fiction feature Cronaca di un amore till Al di là delle nuvole, his final. It’s believed that the section will lead you further into the world-renowned film creator.

　　Collection of Award-winning Films and Restored Classics of each year are most favorite without any doubt. Beijing Film Panorama of the 7th Beijing International Film Festival will pass on this tradition and invite excellent films from award-winning works of many important film festivals including the Academy Award, Cannes International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival and others to present the highest level of modern world films in a horizontal dimension. Multiple award winners from the Berlin International Film Festival, including On Body and Soul and Toivon tuolla puolen, film of the Best Director Award will show up in Beijing. Besides, the panorama also features masterpieces including Il Gattopardo, Gone with the Wind and Doctor Zhivago that have just been restored to present the treasure of the film history in a longitudinal dimension, so that the audience can have the chance to see how modern techniques have restored classics.

　　3. Continued visual feast of classic film series and new unit of novelty films 

　　Beijing Film Panorama not only focuses on excellent art films, but attaches equal importance to fine genre films. Over the past few years, the visual feast of classic film with franchise screening of the series films of the Lord of the Rings and Godfather had been well-received.  Conforming to the trend in the world film industry, this year, we have selected two classic films with great popularity and thrilling stories, i.e., Pirates of the Caribbean and The Fast and the Furious to feast the eyes of the audience. Moreover, we also set up the “novelty unit” focusing on genre films with distinctive features, in a bid to diversify and enrich the Film Panorama.   

　　4. Colorful comedies combined with films themed on the “Belt and Road” initiative as the highlight

　　Based on the sci-fi film exhibition last year and the model of “film festival within film festival”, in the “colorful comedy” exhibition this year, we choose the popular area of film creation –comedy—as the key word and collect classic comedies from different countries and eras with various styles, which are shown side by side with Chinese local comedies.  Among them, the films of Jacques Tati, French master director, serve as the model of “premier comedy”. The films directed by Eldar Ryazanov, which used to be watched by the whole family, are the memory of a generation of Chinese people. The three film directors surnamed Xu display the folk culture of Hong Kong through comedy. On the other hand, they share much in common with Beijing local comedies.

　　The two themes of classic Chinese films, which are the pride of this year’s Film Panorama, also reflect the idea of connecting the past with the present. “Seventy Years of Wenhua Film Group” will screen over twenty films produced by the most important private filmmaking companies in the film history of China, including Miserable at Middle Age and Spring in a Small Town. The valuable humanistic spirit reflected in these films inspires another theme, “Eastern aesthetics and new scholar film”, which includes ten distinctive works with features of Eastern culture, such as Song of China by Fei Mu, Legend of the Mountain by King Hu and Mr. No problem by Mei Feng. These fine films vary in places and time of creation, yet they could echo with each other. We aim to find out the thread of creation running through the whole film history in China and reflecting the national culture.

　　The films themed on the “Belt and Road” initiative are the highlight of this film festival. In line with the state strategic thinking, the Beijing Film Panorama expands its horizon to cover films produced by countries along the “Belt and Road”, in a bid to carry forward the Silk Road spirit with films as the bond.  Meanwhile, we continue with the Global Horizon. Through cooperation with foreign embassies and related film institutions, we are planning the film exhibitions reflecting different cultures, such as “Window to France” and “Focus on Italy”, in a bid to showcase the latest development of the world film industry to the public in the capital.  

　　This film festival also incorporates the new films of the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan into the “Chinese Film Influence” to discuss the present and future of Chinese films. Documentary Section, Animation Taste, Tech-Spectacles, Classical Peking Opera Film and Opera Film, which used to offer novel film-watching experience for the Beijing citizens, are expected to fare well this year.

　　List of 30 cinemas for the Beijing Film Panorama of the 7th Beijing International Film Festival

　　1. Five theme cinemas

　　Beijing Jiayu Jinyi International Cinema City Co., Ltd.; MEGABOX (Sanlitun); UME International Cineplex（Anzhen）; CGV Xingxing International Cinema, Jiangtai Beijing; Jackie Chan Cinema (Wukesong)

　　2. Twenty-one partner cinemas

　　Broadway Cinematheque; Beijing Oriental Plaza Broadway Cinema; Beijing Glory Mall Broadway Cinema; Beijing RedStar Pacific Cineplex; SAGA CINEMA; Beijing Daxing Jiayu Jinyi International Cinemas Co., Ltd.; Lumiere Pavilions (IMAX) LongforChangying Paradise Walk Shopping Center; Lumiere Pavilions Fangcaodi; MEGABOX(CBD); MEGABOX (Zhongguancun); The Capital Cinema in Xidan Shop; New Colourful Clouds Cinema; UME International Cineplex（Huaxing）; UME International Cineplex (Shuangjing); Beijing Shijingshan Wanda Cinema; Beijing Tongzhou Wanda Cinema; CGV Xingxing International Cinema, Aoti Beijing; China Film Archive Art Cinema; China Film Cinema (Qianxi Branch); China Science Museum Cinema and Inside-out Cinema.

　　3. Four cinemas of universities

　　Beijing Language and Culture University; Tsinghua University; Renmin University of China; Capital Normal University

　　Steady progress in the five modules of the film market, with the number of applying projects reaching record high

　　The 7th Beijing International Film Festival will be held from April 19 to 21 at Beijing International Hotel. The Film Market consists of five modules, i.e., Exhibition, Project Pitches, Industry Conversations, Events & Activities and Contract Signing Ceremony.

　　1. Exhibition

　　This year’s Exhibition covers the whole industrial chain. Targeted at key exhibitors at home and abroad, the Exhibition serves as a platform for them to carry out promotion and display of products so as to facilitate comprehensive exchanges and cooperation in filmmaking, copyright and co-production.

　　The planning of booths is divided into special booth, standard booth and joint booth. Among them, there will be 12 special booths, 110 standard ones and 3 joint ones to meet the individualized needs of the exhibitors.

　　So far, 212 enterprises have registered online for this year’s Film Market, far exceeding the expectations.

　　In terms of the participating countries, this year’s Film Market endeavors to vigorously expand the international channels on the foundation of the previous ones. So far, the international exhibitors confirmed to attend are from Italy, Australia, US, Germany, Canada, Israel and so on, making the Beijing International Film Festival more international.

　　2. Project Pitches

　　It is the incubator developed by the Film Market for high quality film projects with huge market potential.  This year’s Project Pitches will continue with the project transaction market integrating training, evaluation, support, business negotiation, incubation, tracking and display, in a bid to help the Project Pitches Transaction Platform become a highlight of the brand of Film Market.

　　The application process started from Dec.12, 2016 and ended on March 1, 2017, with a total of 712 project applications, an increase of 5.6% over the previous year, setting up a new record.

　　In term of application ratio, the number of young filmmakers is increasing, with 246 project applications from new studios of filmmakers born in the 1980s and 1990s, accounting for 34.6% of the total. Among these projects, over 60% have already raised funds for project development and film shooting.

　　Moreover, there are a lot of overseas projects, including those from the US, France, Germany, Japan, India, Canada and Malaysia. Most of them are planned to be co-productions.

　　3. Industry Conversations and Events & Activities

　　This year’s Film Market plans to hold four Industry Conversations, with three already confirmed, which are to be sponsored by Motion Picture Association of America, Screenwriter Group and EntGroup.

　　Events & Activities are planned in accordance with the standards of renowned international film festivals. While integrating industry resources, it offers road show, enterprise news release, salon and other diversified solutions to meet the needs of brand building as well as business and project promotion of film institution and companies at home and abroad. 

　　So far, 38 enterprises have signed in for the Events & Activities, with 21 confirmed to be present. The topics cover co-production, financing and investment, new marketing trends, innovation in screenwriting, Internet IP development and the development of animated films.

　　4. Contract Signing Ceremony

　　Contract Signing Ceremony is a featured part of the Film Market of Beijing International Film Festival. It aims to serve as a centralized platform for enterprises and institutions with the intention of cooperation. In recent years, it has received high attention as a fine platform for contract conclusion in the domestic film industry.

　　It is now under way, with 14 projects submitted from exhibitors of Film Market, covering all the key parts of the industrial chain from investment, co-production to the building of film bases.

　　Starry and harmonious gathering – release of the poster of the 7th Beijing International Film Festival

　　The theme of the poster is a dancing goddess with long sleeves under a starry night sky, indicating a starry and harmonious gathering. Other elements included in the theme of the poster are the Tiantan Award trophy, the number 7 and the landmark of the Temple of Heaven, highlighting the theme of the Beijing International Film Festival. The background is the starry night sky, reflecting the numerous film stars attending the film festival. The deep night sky reminds people of the giant screen in cinema. The shape of 7 formed by the planets indicates the 7th Beijing International Film Festival, with the starlight implicating the actors and actresses receiving awards at the film festival. The visual focus of the poster is the Tiantan Award trophy, with the dancing goodness holding the starlight in hands, representing the glory of the award.

　　The dancing goddess with long sleeves and the Temple of Heaven blend well with each other.  The golden Temple of Heaven displays the style of Beijing as the capital of six dynasties. Complemented with the trophy and starry night sky, the overall design of the poster reflects the traditional culture and modernity of the city. 

　　Film Concert showcases the charm of film music

　　There are two Film Concerts at this year’s film festival, which are to be held at Beijing Performance and Arts Group The Theater of Cultural Palace of Nationalities on April 21 and 22, with one featuring Chinese film music and the other featuring world film music. In addition, the part of “paying tribute to film musician” of the Red Carpet won the approval of people in and out of the industry at the previous Film Concerts. This part will be retained and extended to pay tribute to the filmmakers.

　　Blossom Age – Chinese Film Concert, will recall the theme songs of classic Chinese films and select the most representative and popular ones to show the national character, diversification and popularity of Chinese film music. The opening music of the six major film studios in China will be displayed at the beginning of the film concerts. As one of the symbols of Chinese films, the film studio plays an important role in the development of Chinese films and becomes a unique memory of the times. Then, the theme song, You, composed by Zhao Jiping and Zhang Heping for the Film Concert of the Beijing International Film Festival, will make its debut, with the famous soprano Wang Lida, and young tenor Yang Yang as the singers. The military film is one of the important themes of Chinese and the world's films. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, so we set up a special module of military film music to showcase the charm of the Chinese soldiers. In addition, the famous tenor Ding Yi, the famous soprano singer Xu Jingjing, the violinist Chai Liang and other artists will perform at the concerts.

　　"La La Land- the world's classic film concert" has selected Chinese opera, Chinese and foreign opera, musical and other film music to show the essence of authentic stage arts and film arts. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Xin Fengxia. We also invited her daughter, Wu Shuang, to sing Naming the Flowers, a song of the pingju film of Flower is a Go-between. The pianist Tan Xiaotang will perform the original music of La La Land, the Oscar award-winning film. Moreover, the audience will appreciate the Chinese opera music such as the Butterfly Lovers, the national opera film music such as Red Guards on Honghu Lake as well as music from other operas and musicals, such as Swan Lake and Phantom of the Opera.

　　At present, all the preparatory works of the 7th Beijing International Film Festival have been completed. In the beautiful Spring in Beijing, the Organizing Committee welcomes all the guests to attend the grand annual gathering of the world film industry.