From screens to deals: Shanghai's Belt and Road Film Week expands with full-chain industry day

Cinema as a bridge for mutual understanding took center stage on June 17 as the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival launched its Belt and Road Film Week, introducing a new industry-focused component aimed at turning cultural exchange into tangible business deals.

The week-long event, themed "Shared Screens", opened with a ceremony at the Shendi Cultural Center in the Shanghai International Tourist Resort. This year's edition debuts a Full-Chain Industry Day, expanding the program beyond screenings to include project pitching, business matchmaking and themed forums.

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The film week features 16 recent films from 26 countries, including China, Chile and Brazil, with several titles previously selected for major sections at the Locarno Film Festival and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Eight films remain in competition for awards including "Most Media-Anticipated Film", "Most Media-Anticipated Filmmaker" and "Audience Favorite Film" award, to be announced June 19 at the "Charming Pudong Film Night". Six of the selected films will also screen simultaneously in five Yangtze River Delta cities: Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Hefei.

"Shared screens" means more than multinational films on the same screen, said Fang Shizhong, executive vice minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and director of the Shanghai Film Bureau. "It symbolizes the reflection of diverse civilizations and lifestyles through the medium of light and shadow."

The Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance, launched by the Shanghai festival in 2018, welcomed the Royal Film Commission - Jordan as its newest member, bringing total membership to 58 institutions from 51 countries - up from 31 institutions across 29 nations at inception. The alliance has since facilitated overseas screenings of 67 Chinese films and brought more than 1,000 films from partner countries to Chinese audiences.

"We have brought a film about an effeminate boy. This is its Asian premiere, and I hope this work can strike a chord with Chinese audiences,"said Luciana Vieira, cast director of Brazilian film Gugu's World.

Chinese actors Zhu Yawen and Jiang Shuying were named promotion ambassadors. Zhu noted that the gathering of filmmakers from around the world is a real-world extension of the "Shared Screens" theme, while Jiang, a Shanghai native, welcomed international guests and expressed hope that cinema would serve as a bridge for sharing warm and moving stories.

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The industry day proved popular: Of 63 participating institutions, 36 signed up for talks and completed 66 face-to-face meetings. Twenty international institutions expressed interest in partnering with Chinese companies, while 16 Chinese participants sought cross-border collaboration. One Chinese company requested meetings with 17 foreign partners.

An international cooperation forum brought together industry leaders. Mohannad Al-Bakri, managing director of the newly joined Royal Film Commission - Jordan, said his goal in Shanghai was not only to promote Jordan's filming locations but also to study China's distribution models, describing it as a market they are "trying to learn from and look for opportunities to seize".

The Shanghai International Tourist Resort now hosts more than 200 film and television companies covering the full industry chain. A new Film and Television Service Center was unveiled at the ceremony to provide full-cycle services for settled enterprises and projects.

Coinciding with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Arab countries, the film week launched a special "Gift of Arabia" Belt and Road bazaar at Bicester Village Shanghai, extending the film-and-consumption model into a cultural leisure experience.

The Belt and Road Film Week aims to continue to demonstrate Shanghai's role as an international cultural metropolis, using cinema as a thread to connect people and industries across nations.
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