The Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival opened in the ancient city of Pingyao, Shanxi province, on Thursday, bringing filmmakers and movie lovers together for its milestone 10th edition.
Running through Sept 30, the festival features 50 films from nearly 40 countries and regions, including China, France, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Romania, and the Philippines. Of the films selected for its official screening program, 75 percent are making their Asian premieres, 90.6 percent are making their China premieres, while all of the films are being screened on the Chinese mainland for the first time. Fourteen are feature-film directorial debuts.
This year's festival is held under a theme suggesting that "answers are found along the way", reflecting its emphasis on filmmaking as a process of continued exploration and practice.
The festival opened with a newly restored 4K version of Chinese director Fei Mu's 1948 classic Spring in a Small Town, which made its Asian premiere at the Pingyao Festival Palace.
The screening coincides with the 120th anniversary of Fei's birth. The restoration was completed by the China Film Archive using the film's original 35-millimeter nitrate negative, with its original score restored and a new 5.1-channel soundtrack produced.
The festival continues its longstanding focus on emerging filmmakers. Its Hidden Dragons section showcases works by emerging Chinese-language directors, while Crouching Tigers focuses on first, second, or third features by international filmmakers. The two sections are associated with the Fei Mu Awards and Roberto Rossellini Awards, respectively.
Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui On-wah serves as president of the Fei Mu Awards jury, while Italian film critic and curator Carlo Chatrian, director of the National Museum of Cinema in Turin, chairs the Roberto Rossellini Awards jury.
Hui also accepted the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon East-West Award at the opening ceremony in recognition of her filmmaking achievements and contribution to exchanges between Eastern and Western cinema.
Chinese filmmaker Han Sanping and Italian producer and festival director Marco Mueller received the International Contribution to Chinese Cinema Award, which recognizes their efforts to promote Chinese cinema internationally.
Founded by filmmaker Jia Zhangke in 2017, the Pingyao festival focuses particularly on discovering and promoting young filmmakers from China and emerging and developing film industries, while fostering exchanges between Chinese and international cinema.
