After twelve years of efforts, the BJIFF has grown into a pillar of strength in world cinema with its courage and determination. This year, the Tiantan Award received a total of 1,450 entries rich in subject across the global, an increase of 63% over last year, including 1,193 foreign films from 88 countries and regions. It brings together a great number of masterpieces, and the shortlisted films are: Anatolian Leopard, a Turkish/Polish/German/Danish co-production; Call Jane, an American film; Fast & Feel Love, a Thai film; Full Time, a French film; In Search of Lost Time, a Chinese film; Jai Bhim, an Indian film; Kong & Jigme, a Chinese film; Off the Stage, a Chinese film; Sardar Udham, an Indian film; Song of Spring, a Chinese film; A Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic, a Finnish film; The Exam, a German/Iraqi/Qatari co-production; The Family, a French film; The Good Boss, a Spanish film, Unrest, a Swiss film; and Utama, a Bolivian/Uruguayan/French co-production. All this will contribute to an amazing, all-inclusive audio-visual feast, building a bridge between Chinese cinema and world cinema for cooperation and exchange.
The 12th BJIFF invites a number of Chinese and foreign headliner filmmakers to sit on the jury. With the famous Chinese actor Li Xuejian as the president, the international jury of the Tiantan Award this year has six other members–Chinese director Guo Fan, British director Malcolm Clarke, Argentine director Lucrecia Martel, Italian director Michelangelo Frammartino, Chinese actress Qin Hailu, and Chinese director and actor Wu Jing. Notably, the participation of Lucrecia Martel, who presided over the international jury of the 76th Venice International Film Festival in 2019, in this year’s BJIFF also represents her debut at an Asian film festival. Michelangelo Frammartino has just been announced as the president of the jury for the Luigi De Laurentiis Award Lion of the Future section of the Venice International Film Festival. Such a star-studded jury lineup has also raised people’s expectations for the BJIFF.
The BJIFF invites filmgoers to a long-awaited film feast annually. This year, more than 100 outstanding Chinese and foreign films selected for the Beijing Film Panorama will be screened from August 12 through 21, 2022.
The highly anticipated films shortlisted for the Tiantan Award and entries for the Forward Future Section will be screened in the Beijing Film Panorama. Specially curated to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, the “Special Exhibition: Waves of Film: New Momentums for Hong Kong Cinema” section features recent outstanding Hong Kong films and the latest restored versions of Hong Kong classics.
Other highlights include the Cinema of Theodoros Angelopoulos, a Greek master, and the highly acclaimed Japanese animation Inu-Oh (2022); Alcarràs and Just Remembering, both winning awards at global film festivals last years; and the latest digitally restored versions of such works as the historical classics “Antoine Quintet”, The Last Waltz, and The Moon Has Risen.