Annual international film festival hits screens in Pingyao

The 5th Pingyao International Film Festival opens in the Ancient City of Pingyao on Oct 12. [Photo/Pingyao Rong Mei]

The 5th Pingyao International Film Festival opened as scheduled to great fanfare on Oct 12 in the Ancient City of Pingyao – located in North China's Shanxi province – exciting the audiences with the great diversity and breadth of its works on offer.

In keeping with its theme of "Gathering", this year's film festival – which runs to Oct 19 – is being jointly organized by Pingyao Film Festival Co and the Shanxi Film Academy at the Communication University of Shanxi.

Forty-six latest films from 32 countries and regions are being screened in Pingyao at the festival, known for short as PYIFF.

Of these, 32 percent of films are world premieres, 71 percent are Asian premieres and 100 percent and all the screened films are Chinese premieres.

At the opening ceremony, directors Xie Fei and Tsui Hark were awarded the honor of the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon East-West Award for their special contribution to East-West communications through their creations.

"I have found that Pingyao not only has an ancient culture but also a vibrant and youthful film festival," Tsui Hark said. Xie Fei gave thanks for China's reforms and opening-up, for the rapid development of modern cinema in the country.

Hello Group Inc, chief sponsor of the film festival, donates 10 million yuan ($1.55 million) to Shanxi – 5 million yuan of which is for Pingyao county, for flood disaster relief – at the opening ceremony of the festival on Oct 12. [Photo/Pingyao Rong Mei]

This year, the PYIFF is further boosting its investment in the Made in Shanxi section. Cash awards are being given to selected outstanding Shanxi films and for outstanding Shanxi film projects, so as to offer more incubation opportunities for local cinematic projects.

The academic section of the film festival involves more Shanxi locals this year – having invited Shanxi filmmakers and directors who studied in Shanxi to share their film experiences, with the theme of "living, studying and creating in Shanxi".

The founder of the festival, filmmaker Jia Zhangke, said the festival will not only "start from Shanxi", but also "start towards the future".

With a special focus on young filmmakers, the film education section of the festival – the Pingyao Corner – has collected short films from all over China, providing a platform for young filmmakers to communicate.