Shanghai Film Festival Launches With Chinese Industry in Comeback Mode

Patrick Brzeski
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The Shanghai International Film Festival kicked off on a triumphant note Friday night in China’s commercial capital as the country’s film industry threw open its doors to the global film community.

This year’s edition of China’s most prestigious cinema event is the first in over three years that is easily accessible to the outside world after the past three festivals were either canceled, put online or simply very difficult to attend because of the country’s strict COVID-19 travel restrictions. The festival also happens to be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, as well as arriving at a moment when China’s commercial film industry is finally regaining some momentum after the long years of the pandemic.

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“Each section of this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival is fully back offline, and we are more than thrilled to meet all guests in-person again,” says Wenquan He, general manager of Shanghai International Film & TV Events Center. “We also extend our gratitude to the many films, guests, partners and cinephiles who have remained supportive and accompanied us throughout the year-long delay of the festival.” He adds: “2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the Shanghai International Film Festival, which has become a celebration of the city that resonates with both the cinematic industry and ordinary cinephiles.”

And he says: “We hope to fully utilize the international platform that the festival provides to show the style of Chinese film creation to the world film industry, through forums, markets, and other activities.”

Another function the Shanghai festival’s glitzy opening ceremony provides each year is as a promotional platform for China’s biggest forthcoming summer tentpoles. That was certainly true Friday night as a sequence of directors and stars hit Shanghai’s red carpet. Jason Statham provided some Hollywood star power with an appearance alongside English filmmaker Ben Wheatley, the director of Warner Bros.’ blockbuster sequel, Meg 2: The Trench, which opens Aug. 4, and co-stars Chinese leading man Wu Jing. Director Chen Daming walked the carpet with actors Zhang Hanyu and Vivi, the lead cast of his upcoming crime drama Unspoken for Huanxi Media. And the team behind The Ex-Files 4: Marriage Plan, the latest installment of the hit comedy franchise, was also out in force. They included the film’s lead producer Wang Zhonglei, the director Tian Hanyu and the full starring cast: Han Geng, Zheng Kai, Yu Wenwen, Zhu Yanmanzi, Zeng Mengxue and Luo Mi. There were scores more Chinese stars in attendance.

The festival’s opening ceremony ended with the world premiere of Love Never Ends a drama about elderly love and affection from prominent Chinese director Han Yan (Go Away Mr. Tumor, A Little Red Flower).

Hollywood theatrical earnings in China remain far below pre-pandemic benchmarks, but on the whole, the Chinese film market has resumed some energy — and the mood in the local industry is optimistic. Regulatory headwinds have abated and the feeling among industry veterans is that the government wants to see the movie sector thrive commercially again. At the end of May, the total year-to-date box office in China was $3.2 billion (RMB 22.1 billion), a 45 percent improvement over the same period last year, when COVID lockdowns were decimating the industry.

Industry sources have told The Hollywood Reporter that China’s film regulators have set an internal box office target of 50 billion RMB, about $7 billion at current exchange rates, by year-end, which would be a 66 percent improvement on 2022’s total of 30 billion RMB, and a 7 percent improvement over 2021.

Running June 9-18, Shanghai’s Golden Goblet competition screenings comprise five sections: Main Competition, Asian New Talent, Animation Film, Documentary Film, and Short Film. Acclaimed Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski, an Oscar nominee earlier this year for EO, is heading the jury for Shanghai’s main competition, which also includes India’s Nandita Das, Indonesia’s Garin Nugroho, German cinematographer Lutz Reitemeier and China’s Song Jia, Vivian Qu and Zhang Lu. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in the Shanghai Grand Theater on June 17.

The festival also includes a number of master classes — with Chinese filmmakers Peter Chan and Zhang Lu, Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi and Japan’s Sho Miyake — and an expansive panel series relating to contemporary sci-fi filmmaking in China. U.K. filmmaker Mike Leigh will be featured in a Tribute to Masters section, screening eight of his esteemed works, including Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake, and Mr. Turner.

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