The 2021 Shanghai International Film Festival opened today. At this year's film festival, two films 'ANIMA' (screenwriter/director: Jinling Cao) and 'A Summer Trip' (screenwriter: Dahui Ren) developed by the students of the first screenwriting class of the ShanghaiTech University-University of Southern California Film and Television Training Program will be unveiled and will be premiered in domestic theaters.
In the summer of 2015, the screenwriting class witnessed the whole process of the two films from the first word to the birth of the complete script. Six years later, the two works returned to Shanghai in the form of films at the same time, which shows that the ShanghaiTech University-University of Southern California Film and Television Training Program's efforts in cultivating young creative talents in the upper reaches of the industry have entered a harvest period.
Press conference of 2015 screenwriter class at Shanghai International Film Festival
Dahui Ren is the fourth on the left and Jinling Cao is the second on the right
'ANIMA' won the Best Photography Award at the Iran Dawn Film Festival,
and was selected as the opening film of the 'The Belt and Road Initiative' section of the Shanghai International Film Festival
Film Poster
In 2015, the film 'ANIMA' produced by project student Jinling Cao in the screenwriting class has continued to report good news since its world premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival in December last year. The film has been shortlisted or selected for the Hong Kong International Film Festival Rookie Competition, Moscow International Film Festival Screening, Singapore Chinese Film Festival (selected as the closing film), Italy Udine Far East Film Festival main competition and so on.
Film Stills
'ANIMA' tells the story of an ordinary lumberjack fighting alone for the last virgin forest at the time of desperation, highlighting the exploration of human nature and the relationship between man and nature. At the 38th Fajr International Film Festival just past, 'ANIMA' was not only the only Chinese film shortlisted for its Eastern Vista competition, but also based on the outstanding photography of the director of photography Pingbin Li, Won the Best Photography Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Known as the 'Poet of Shadow', Pingbin Li went deep into the secret environment of the virgin forest with a large temperature difference of 80℃ for two years, capturing the magnificence and epic temperament of Mordaga, giving the film an extremely real and shocking texture.
Joanna Kończak, a well-known Polish film critic, once praised: "Pingbin Li used the lens to present many amazing natural scenery, looking down from the top of the tree, showing our insignificance. The snow is dyed golden by the morning light. The depths of the forest and the fog, As well as the glimmer of autumn, it presents the relationship between man and nature in a way that fits the spiritual level and can even be said to be sacred."
Film Stills
At this Shanghai International Film Festival, 'ANIMA' is about to make its debut in mainland China as the opening film of the Belt and Road Film Week. This is also the final 'return' in the form of a complete film after the screenplay project of ShanghaiTech University-University of Southern California in 2015, and participating in the venture capital activities of Shanghai International Film Festival as 'film project' and 'project in production' in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
'ANIMA' screening date: June 12th and 13th.
'A Summer Trip' reshape the road movie with the love of grandpa and grandson
Appeared in the 'Chinese New Style' unit of Shanghai International Film Festival
At this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, the script of another work was created by the ShanghaiTech University-University of Southern California Film and Television Training Project. It is 'A Summer Trip' in the 'Chinese New Style' unit, and the first screenwriter is Dahui Ren, a student of the 2015 project.
Film Poster
'A Summer Trip' is a road movie with grandpa and grandson as the protagonists. The original script was shortlisted for the 2016 'Xia Yan' Cup outstanding film script solicitation. The story tells the eve of the Beijing Olympics. Grandpa and his grandson went to Beijing to attend the funeral of his comrades-in-arms. Along the way, the two experienced intergenerational frictions and witnessed the wonders brought about by the rapid development of the times.
The film 'A Summer Trip' was directed by young director Qiyu Feng and acted as a co-screenwriter. National first-class actor Xinming Yang starred, performing artist Saifei He appeared as a guest, music master Joe Hisaishi and photographer Pingbin Li escorted. The film has its world premiere in the screening section of the 2021 Osaka Asian Film Festival in March this year.
Film Stills
It is not easy for a script to finally meet the audience on the big screen after six years. Dahui Ren recalled: "I still clearly remember that one night in early June 2015, I received a call from the supervisor of the the ShanghaiTech University-University of Southern California Film and Television Training, confirming that the script fragment I tried to write passed the assessment. A few days later, I came to ShanghaiTech University and studied script writing with the teachers David Howard and Tom Abrams of the Film Academy of Southern California University. After three months of systematic drama study, with the help of the teachers and classmates in the class, from a novice, I wrote the first movie script in my life."
Class Record of 2015 ShanghaiTech University-University of Southern California Screenwriting Class
"Six years have passed, and the script has finally been made into a movie, and it is more fortunate to be screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival. The first script written in Shanghai can be screened in Shanghai for the first time, which is a very strange feeling. All this This is possible because of the phone call in 2015. Thank you ShanghaiTech University for giving me an opportunity to learn, allowing me to become able to express the story I want to tell through words."
'A Summer Trip' Screening Date: June 16th and 18th.
2021 Shanghai International Film Festival
June 11-20
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