On the afternoon of December 16, at the Jury Meet & Greet for the Golden Coconut Awards of the 5th Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF), the President of the Jury for this edition, Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, along with Iranian director Shahram Mokri, Chinese director and actor Da peng, Chinese actor and producer Huang Xiaoming, Chinese actress Ma Yili, and Chinese screenwriter Liu Yi, who serve as jurors for the Feature Film Competition, met with the press.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
As one of the most influential art film directors in the international film world of the 21st century, Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan serves as the President of the Jury for the Golden Coconut Awards Competition at this edition of the Hainan Island International Film Festival. "I participated in the 1st HIIFF, so I witnessed its birth and had the opportunity to travel to other places on Hainan Island, taking many photos. Hainan is very beautiful, and the climate is very pleasant," said Nuri Bilge Ceylan. He expressed his high expectations for this edition of the festival, hoping to see the best films.
Juror Shahram Mokri is visiting China for the first time and attending a Chinese film festival for the first time as well. Previously, he mainly watched Chinese films through international film festivals, and he hopes to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese cinema through this festival. "Although it is my first day in China, I feel a very close connection," said Shahram Mokri. He believes that the cultures of China and Iran are very similar, and hopes to enhance mutual understanding by strengthening personnel exchanges and communication between the two countries. He is confident there will be more opportunities for cooperation to tell the stories of both nations well.
It is worth mentioning that Da peng brought his film Post Truth to the 4th HIIFF to meet with film fans last year, and this year he is attending the festival as a juror. When discussing his feelings about participating in the festival in a different capacity, Da peng said that attending as a juror is primarily about learning and watching films, so he feels more relaxed. During the review process, he will try his best to vote from the perspective of an ordinary audience member, and he also looks forward to the outstanding performances of Chinese films at the 5th HIIFF.
"This year, the national box office has surpassed 50 billion yuan, which is a very good sign. I also hope that Chinese cinema, like Hainan's climate, will become increasingly warm and beautiful," said juror Huang Xiaoming. He stated that as an actor, he will relatively focus more on the acting perspective when carrying out his evaluation work. At the same time, he hopes to continue striving forward as a student of the film industry, using the platform of the 5th HIIFF to have more opportunities to communicate with international filmmakers, and he also hopes that more outstanding foreign creators will come to like and visit China.
When discussing why realist films focusing on family and social relationships are so popular, juror Ma Yili believes that the subjects of these films are closely related to people's lives, making it easy for audiences to resonate with them. From an international perspective, love is always the best subject, "because all things and all strength originate from love. Film can lead everyone into that pitch-black box to escape life in a dream, and then feel love within that dream."
Juror Liu Yi is familiar to movie fans for his representative works such as Wolf Warrior, Magic Card Action, and Wolf Warrior II. When discussing how mainstream films can break out of their niche, he believes that the definition of mainstream films should be broadened. From a creator's perspective, mainstream films should be treated as genre films. "We need a massive audience to go into the cinemas to watch the films in order to achieve our goal, so we must follow the rules of genre films and make them in the manner of genre films," said Liu Yi.
As one of the leading projects in the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the HIIFF has been successfully held for four editions. The Golden Coconut Awards Competition of the 5th HIIFF is divided into three sections: Feature Films, Feature-Length Documentaries, and Short Films, receiving a total of 4,018 film submissions from 109 countries and regions worldwide. The judging process has now officially begun, and will select ten awards: Best Film, Best Director, Grand Jury Prize, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Technical Achievement, Best Children's Film, Best Documentary, and Best Short Film. The winners of each award will be announced at the Closing Ceremony and Awards Ceremony on December 22.
Source: Sanya Media Convergence Reporter Liu Jia / Text, Yuan Yongdong / Photos; Partial Image Source: 5th Hainan Island International Film Festival
Editor: Li Jingchao
