Shanghai film festival opens with packed lineup, global premieres and star jury

Italian film director Giuseppe Tornatore, alongside six of his fellow jury members leading the Golden Goblet Awards, met movie lovers at the Crowne Plaza Shanghai on Friday afternoon to unveil the 27th edition of the Shanghai International Film Festival.

The festival, which began on Friday and is scheduled to run until June 22, will showcase a total of 410 films across 43 cinemas throughout the city.

This year, the Golden Goblet Awards received an unprecedented number of submissions tallying up to 3,900 films from 119 countries and regions. And of the 49 productions shortlisted for the awards, 38 will be making their global premiere at the festival.

Tornatore is the president of the jury panel adjudicating the "main competition", a sought-after category within the awards. Other jurists are spread out across five categories — which include: main competition, Asian new talent, documentaries, animation, and short films — and are made up of 21 members from 13 countries and regions.

The 69-year-old Italian director is known for creations like Nuovo Cinema Paradiso and Malena.

Although he has had multiple visits to China, and had previous engagements with SIFF, this is his first time in Shanghai.

"When I enter a cinema, when it gets all dark, and the projection begins, I am just a member of the audience," he said, expressing his love for films. "I want to devote myself to the experience, learn its content, and understand it, without being judgmental."

Earlier this year, Tornatore was reported as being a co-writer on a script for the movie adaptation of Chinese author Liu Cixin's award-winning novella With Her Eyes. "I am curious about the new genre of science fiction," he said. "I very much enjoyed the working process, the clash between different cultures. I think this kind of cultural exchange can effectively improve understanding and communication. That's the significance of it."

Curious and always open to new opportunities, Tornatore said he loves China and Chinese culture very much, and looks forward to one day filming movies in the country.

Despite the challenges that arise from short-form video consumption, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, today's movie industry has unaffected significance as "people can not imagine a world without movies," he said.

He said while there is no easy recipe to ensure the success of any movie, one "can only win the heart of the audience when you tell a story in the most sincere way, and have truthful communications with people."

Another member of the jury, Chinese actor and director Huang Bo, said that he had experienced difficulties in a career that has spanned over 20 years.

"Movie makers have to adapt themselves for the new market situation and technological development, to look for new opportunities of breakthrough.

"I hope in the summer vacation a series of high-quality movies will be launched and bring new hope to the market," Huang said.