Bridging mountains and seas — using film as a bridge
A hundred flowers in competition — the canvas shines
Li Xiangyuan
Director of the Locarno Film Market
A European-Chinese encounter in the form of film opens a new chapter of cooperation.
LOCARNO, SWITZERLAND, August 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On the evening of August 14 (local time), Locarno, Switzerland—a film city framed by lakes and mountains—received a warm stream of light from the East. To mark the 79th Locarno International Film
Festival, the Organizing Committee of the Beijing International Film Festival visited this center of cinematic art and hosted the “Beijing Film Evening 2026—Presentation of the Beijing International Film Festival in Locarno.”This is an important step by the Beijing International Film Festival to deepen cinematic exchange and cooperation between China and Switzerland, as well as between China and Europe. At the same time, it is another brilliant appearance on the platform of one of Europe's leading A-list film festivals, showcasing the vibrancy of Chinese cinema in all its facets to the world and building a solid bridge for the mutual exchange of films, talent, and projects between China and other countries.
Bridging mountains and seas — using film as a bridge
As dusk fell, darkness gently descended upon Locarno. More than a hundred guests—including representatives from film festivals, heads of film institutions, producers, directors, and international media representatives from Switzerland and across Europe—arrived gradually, awaiting the start of this festive dialogue between Eastern and Western cinema.
With the official start of the presentation, the moderator, in his address, looked back on the development of the Beijing International Film Festival and outlined a visionary perspective for cinematic exchange between China and Switzerland, as well as between China and Europe. The Locarno International Film Festival, founded in 1946, the same year as the Cannes Film Festival, has been continuously dedicated to arthouse cinema for more than seven decades, fostering new talents and works, supporting avant-garde forms of expression, and is considered an important breeding ground for young filmmakers and independent film art worldwide. This dedication to the purity of film aligns with the guiding principle of the Beijing International Film Festival—"Sharing resources, shaping the future together."
One is rooted in the East and connects with the global film industry with great openness; the other is rooted in Europe and preserves artistic expression with an avant-garde approach. At first glance, the two orientations may appear fundamentally different, but they find a deep commonality and resonance in the shared language of film.
The Beijing International Film Festival will continue to provide an international and professional platform for cinematic exchange, bringing together high-quality film resources from around the world and further promoting the exchange of films and talent between China and other countries. This evening will showcase the power of Chinese cinema to the world and simultaneously foster further opportunities for cinematic collaboration between China and Europe.
A hundred flowers in competition — the canvas shines
As the official promotional film and excerpts from outstanding films of the Beijing International Film Festival were shown on the big screen, a vibrant and dynamic panorama of Chinese cinema gradually unfolded before the international guests. From sophisticated, realistic arthouse works to lavishly produced blockbusters, from visual worlds shaped by Eastern aesthetics to experimental works that explore artistic boundaries—productions of different themes, generations, and styles each displayed their own brilliance and combined to create a rich and diverse overall picture.
A look back at the past years reveals a diverse and captivating interplay of light and shadow, with hundreds of events showcasing a remarkable variety. Filmmakers and media representatives from over a hundred countries and regions actively participated, and thousands of works competed on the same stage for the highest honor, the Tiantan Award. The carefully selected films from the Beijing International Film Festival vividly illustrated the evolution of Chinese cinema in the new era—both in terms of its industrial prowess and its artistic expression. The return of the Hundred Flowers Award to Beijing this year further underscored the rich and diverse creative landscape of Chinese cinema and left a lasting and vibrant impression on the European filmmakers present that evening.
A city of film — shared by the entire people
In the main part of the presentation, Mr. Li Xiangyuan, a director at Beijing Radio and representative of the Beijing International Film Festival, took to the stage and systematically presented the key structure, jury, and evaluation mechanisms of the "Tiantan Award" to the assembled guests. He explained the specific role of the venture capital and incubation sector in fostering new talent and connecting with industry resources, and focused in particular on the support measures and opening-up initiatives implemented for international cooperation. In doing so, he comprehensively conveyed the professional orientation and willingness to cooperate of the Beijing International Film Festival as an international platform.
Director Li Xiangyuan emphasized: “With its unique charm and international appeal, the Locarno International Film Festival has always been a special place for filmmakers from all over the world. Since director Chen Kaige won the Silver Leopard in Locarno in 1985 with Yellow Earth, Jackie Chan, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Jia Zhangke, Bi Gan, Qiu Sheng, and other outstanding Chinese-language filmmakers have left their mark on this shore of Lake Lugano. French film director Claire Denis was awarded the Honorary Golden Leopard in Locarno and the following year was invited to serve as a jury member for the Tiantan Award at the Beijing International Film Festival. These diverse connections demonstrate that both sides are equally committed to using film as a medium to promote exchange and mutual understanding between different cultures and to advance the joint development of cinematic art.”
Beijing is currently working intensively to create a warm and vibrant "City of Film," integrating film into urban life and bringing art into people's everyday lives. The Beijing International Film Festival is not only an industry event for filmmakers and film industry representatives, but also a film festival in which the entire population can participate. Every April, when the film festival takes place as planned, the whole city is filled with the atmosphere of film: cinemas are bustling with activity, open-air screenings illuminate parks and alleyways, masterclasses and salons for film enthusiasts are packed, and premieres are in full swing—the distance between filmmakers and audience seems to disappear. Film is no longer just something to be watched, but becomes a tangible, participatory, and cherished way of life. Old Beijing gains new vitality through film; modern Beijing gains a warm inner core through art.
The Beijing International Film Festival extends a warm invitation to European filmmakers and hopes that in the future even more international creatives will come to Beijing with their works and stories to meet the Chinese public face to face in this city where three thousand years of history and a modern international metropolis meet, and to extend a hand to international filmmaking.
Artistic resonance — a mutual approach to one another
Following this, Mr. Markus Duffner, Director of the Locarno Film Market, took to the stage by invitation and gave a speech. He began by expressing his sincere delight that the "Beijing Film Evening" was taking place in Locarno and praised the professional organization and international focus of the Beijing International Film Festival.
For over seventy years, the Locarno Film Festival has been dedicated to discovering new talent and works, while simultaneously fostering breakthroughs and innovations in cinematic expression. As a top-tier European festival with deep roots in arthouse cinema, it largely shares the approach of the Beijing Film Festival's venture capital arm to promote new talent and support diverse forms of expression—a natural intellectual affinity exists between the two.
It is hoped that the Locarno International Film Festival and the Beijing Film Festival will open an even more diverse chapter of collaboration in the future, encompassing film screenings, project incubation, talent development, and international co-production, so that the creative ecosystem of European arthouse film and the dynamism of the Chinese film industry can mutually enrich and inspire one another. The dialogue between Eastern and Western cinema and the encounter of different cultures—this is precisely where the special value of an international film festival lies.
Sharing beauty, discussing the future together—from Beijing to Locarno, even the distance of half the globe no longer seems so great through film. The successful conclusion of the Locarno presentation of the "Beijing Film Evening" not only allowed the world to experience the dynamic vitality of Chinese cinema, but also allowed the seeds of European-Chinese film collaboration to take root and germinate in the heart of Europe.
As an ancient cultural city with a three-thousand-year history, Beijing is writing a new cultural chapter with film as its brush—using its rich historical heritage as its foundation, avant-garde contemporary art as its driving force, and millions of film lovers as its support. The light from the screen of this "city of film" illuminates an ever-expanding world.
After sixteen years of fruitful development, the Beijing-based International Film Festival has become a vital link between Chinese and international filmmaking. From this new starting point, the Beijing Film Festival will further deepen its international focus, expand its global network of collaborations, embrace the world with even greater openness, and, together with filmmakers from around the globe, create outstanding works, develop markets, and shape the future.
A hundred blossoms bloom, light and shadow inspire each other — the organizing committee extends its warmest invitation to all filmmakers worldwide: We look forward to welcoming you to Beijing in the most beautiful April of the year and experiencing the celebration of film together at the 17th Beijing International Film Festival.
No comments:
Post a Comment