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Chinese films display range at TIFF

By RENA LI in Toronto | China Daily Global | Updated: 2021-09-16 10:30
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The poster of Cliff Walkers. [Photo/Douban]

A total of nine outstanding Chinese films will be featured in the "Chinese Film Industry Exhibition" at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), one of the most prestigious film events in the world.

The 46th festival kicked off last week with the opening-night film Dear Evan Hansen, one of nearly 200 movies at the TIFF official selection in both digital and in-person screenings.

Film lovers, directors, film practitioners and media from around the world will attend the festival, which runs from Sept 9-18.

This year's festival offers more indoor screenings than last year's smaller showcase, which was largely held online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Red-carpet galas and press conferences also were set to return with international stars, but without the usual crowds.

Everyone entering TIFF venues must wear masks, socially distance and show proof they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or proof they have tested negative for the coronavirus within 48 hours beforehand.

Among the offerings in the "Chinese Film Industry Exhibition", are two original Chinese animation films: Run, Tiger Run!! and Memory Lane. Run, Tiger Run!! is a 3D animation based on an original story of the ancient Chinese Caravan Guards and is expected to be released in the Chinese Year of the Tiger in 2022.

Director Chen Musheng's posthumous release Raging Fire also is part of the exhibition. The film starring Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse is a typical Hong Kong-style heroic-duo action film and fits the authentic genre of Hong Kong police and crime action.

Films focusing on the centenary of the founding of the CPC and portraying the revolutionary pioneers will appear in the exhibition, including 1921, which is about the first group of Chinese Communists who take up the important task of saving the country.

There is director Zhang Yimou's first war film Cliff Walkers, about a spy, and the war film Beyond the Skies, which shows a conflict between survival and destruction.

Beyond the Skies portrays poetic film aesthetics in telling the story of a revolutionary and loyal military operation in China in 1935. A young soldier receives an order to gather other comrades in the perilous mountains to fight the enemy. The film turns cruelty into poetry, creating breathtaking moments during a turbulent era.

The selected films also show love and family, such as You Jia, which tells the story of the filial piety of Chinese families; Deep Love, a love story of dream-seekers in Shenzhen; and Going Home, which focuses on a father's love. The films tell warm stories reflecting the collision of intergenerational concepts and consciousness amid modernization.

According to the Chinese Culture and Art Exchange Association in North America, (CCAEANA), one of the exhibit's organizers, the films show the enthusiasm and professionalism of Chinese filmmakers, present the market structure of Chinese films with a positive energy and infuse the unique charm of Chinese culture into the Toronto festival.

In recent years, the Chinese film industry has developed rapidly, and many excellent film companies, producers and directors with international perspectives have emerged. They are eager to exchange, learn and cooperate with their international peers.

"The exhibition at TIFF is a platform to show the world the strength of Chinese film, and also a platform to promote the integration and win-win of the Chinese film industry and the world film industry," said Lisa Lin, director of CCAEANA.

Lin said the organization has reached out to more than 700 registered international buyers at TIFF, which can facilitate exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries on copyright transactions, co-production, post-production and other creative activities.

The film festival will wrap with the awarding of the People's Choice prize. Several previous winners of the award have gone on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, including Slumdog Millionaire, The King's Speech, 12 Years a Slave, Green Book, and Nomadland, by Chinese-born filmmaker Chloe Zhao, earlier this year.

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