"Over 15,000 steps again! I've completed a month's worth of exercise in just a few days." At past 10 p.m. on December 20, Xue Jiao, exhausted after a long day, finally returned home. Slumping onto the sofa and looking at the step count notification on WeChat, she joked with her family.
An "10k+" step count on WeChat has been the norm for Xue Jiao recently. On December 16, the 5th Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) opened as scheduled. For a time, Sanya once again took the world stage, as international filmmakers from across the globe gathered to celebrate this cinematic event. In recent days, events such as the Golden Coconut Awards competition, film screenings, and the Golden Coconut Forum have been successfully held. Behind the dazzling starlight shines the presence of nearly 400 young volunteers from major universities in Sanya. Rushing to the festival and dedicating themselves selflessly, they pursued the light and became the light themselves.
On December 21, a volunteer distributes screening tickets to the audience at the Sanya 1+X Mangrove Tree Cinema. Photo by Li Xueshi, Sanya Media Convergence Reporter.
Let Volunteers Become a Beam of Light
Xue Jiao is a host at the Sanya Media Film and Television Group, and she holds another identity: the head of the Volunteer Management Center at the Sanya Media Film and Television Group. In July this year, she was seconded to the working group of the 5th Hainan Island International Film Festival, responsible for volunteer-related work. For her, this was an "unknown" field; how to select, train, coordinate, and manage was crucial, leaving no room for carelessness.
"The film festival is a major event for Hainan, and the volunteers are a window showcasing Sanya; we cannot take it lightly," Xue Jiao said. Upon receiving the notice, she immediately threw herself into the volunteer recruitment work. This time, the recruitment targets were mainly student volunteers from various universities. To her relief, enthusiasm for the festival was high, and she quickly received 2,000 application forms.
After rigorous screening, nearly 400 young volunteers were ultimately selected from Sanya University, Sanya Institute of Technology, Sanya Aviation and Tourism College, Sanya Zhongrui Hotel Management College, Sanya Foreign Language College, and universities stationed in the Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City.
Busy volunteers during the film festival. Photo by Xue Jiao, Sanya Media Convergence Reporter.
To ensure the volunteer service appeared more professional and to make them composed when facing various volunteer tasks, the young volunteers received training on essential common knowledge, etiquette, and job responsibilities before the festival opened. "The training included introductions to previous editions of the festival, etiquette scripts, reward and penalty mechanisms, detailed volunteer work guidelines, and introductions to major scenic spots in Sanya, making it convenient to introduce them to the attending guests," Xue Jiao said. As the number of invited guests continued to increase, new requirements were placed on the volunteers' foreign language proficiency. As the head of the Volunteer Management Center, she not only had to assign personnel and positions based on each volunteer's performance during the interview but also, after positions were assigned, had to flexibly adjust the number of volunteers—increasing or decreasing them at any time according to the different work deadlines of various sectors.
After the festival opened on December 16, Xue Jiao became even busier. How to reasonably allocate volunteers also required the flexible use of information, as they not only had to provide excellent external service to the festival guests but also maintain close internal communication with the leading teachers and volunteers to ensure service support. Xue Jiao said that the real challenge began after receiving the guests, such as determining which intersection to pick them up at, matching the vehicle's license plate number, knowing how to "break the ice" while waiting for the car, introducing the guests to their itinerary for the next few days, and presenting the local customs and specialty snacks of Sanya.
Providing volunteer service for the film festival has become an unforgettable life experience for the young volunteers.
"Please gather at the designated locations immediately, check the license plate number of your destination, and make sure not to board the wrong vehicle. Everyone will take the unified bus to the venue..." These past few days, Xue Jiao's phone has been ringing non-stop just after dawn. To ensure "no one is left behind," she had to coordinate with drivers and the heads of volunteers from various universities early in the morning. "I am grateful for the dedication of these nearly 400 volunteers. Everyone is striving for the same goal: the successful hosting of the film festival," Xue Jiao said.
Being the Behind-the-Scenes "Heroes"
Volunteers are an important component of the Hainan Island International Film Festival. Through their personal participation in the festival's services, they use high-quality volunteer service to showcase the city's cultural heritage and shape Sanya's city image. At this edition of the festival, the volunteers gathered the power of youth, using their professional, civilized, and highly qualified image to showcase a vibrant and ever-changing new Sanya to the world.
These past few days, volunteer Chen Xinyi has deeply experienced the "bitterness" and "sweetness" of being a volunteer. In the early stages, to become a qualified volunteer, she underwent online training in advance and made corresponding preparations. During the volunteer service over the past few days, she conscientiously completed her work.
On December 17, a volunteer helps a young audience member put on a VR viewing device at the VR Film Experience Zone of the 5th HIIFF. Photo by Li Xueshi, Sanya Media Convergence Reporter.
The 23-year-old Chen Xinyi is from Wuhan, Hubei. She is a Hainan specialized master's student at the Wuhan University of Technology Sanya Science and Education Innovation Park. She is fluent in spoken and written English and Japanese, allowing her to communicate with guests from different countries. At the same time, she is familiar with various photography equipment, possesses rich photography experience, and has participated in multiple exhibitions and shooting activities. Full of passion for the film industry, she had previously signed up for volunteer work at multiple film roadshows. During this festival, she is responsible for mid-to-late-stage volunteer services, receiving and guiding guests, and providing interpretation and guidance for foreign actors and artists.
It was love at first sight. Chen Xinyi first learned about the Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) last December when a film she highly favored won the Jury Grand Prize, which prompted her to pay special attention to this year's festival. By becoming a volunteer at this edition of the festival, she can not only learn a lot about the festival but also make many like-minded volunteer friends. Through participating in volunteer service, she can contribute her own strength to the development of film culture, and she believes this will be an unforgettable experience and a precious asset.
Busy delivering props and guiding guests to their seats... Over the past few days, the Masterclass, one of the festival's events, has been highly sought after by filmmakers and cinephiles, with many attending to listen to the masters' talks. As a Masterclass volunteer, Chen Xi, a junior student majoring in Product Design at Sanya University, has been busy but also gained a lot from the Masterclass sharing sessions.
Coming from Guangzhou, it was Chen Xi's first time participating in a volunteer activity. She came to Sanya because of her love for the sea, and she met everyone at the 5th HIIFF because of her love for film. She had known about the festival since her freshman year, but never had the chance to participate in volunteer service until now, when her "wish finally came true."
An inconspicuous package, yet it embodies the dedication of the volunteers. As a volunteer in the materials group for this festival, Ma Jiahua, a junior student majoring in Visual Communication at Sanya University, spent his time being "busy." The busyness came from the non-stop distribution and organization of materials. On the night before the festival's opening, he and other volunteers packaged nearly a thousand small gifts for the festival. "Although the process was hard, seeing the smiles on the faces of everyone who received the small gifts made me feel it was all worthwhile."
Chen Yongqiang, from Xuzhou, Jiangsu, is a second-year doctoral student at the College of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Sanya Yazhou Bay Institute of Deep-sea Science and Technology. "My strengths are being talkative and not being stage-frightened, and I have a lot of hosting experience. In November this year, I served as a volunteer for the Yazhou Bay Optical Revolution International Conference, responsible for English broadcasting at the venue and hosting the banquet. Perhaps because I performed quite well at that venue, a teacher contacted me directly by phone this time, asking if I wanted to sign up for this festival's volunteer recruitment," Chen Yongqiang said. "I have had many experiences as a volunteer, but being a festival volunteer is a first for me. It is no small challenge, but also an opportunity to broaden my horizons." During the festival, Chen Yongqiang is mainly responsible for receiving foreign guests and providing accompanying translation services. "This is my first time doing simultaneous interpretation. I will pay attention to the precision of the language translation and try my best to convey the original intent of both conversing parties. In addition, my words and deeds should showcase China's hospitality and the refinement of a nation of etiquette. I look forward to our own festival attracting the attention of global filmmakers and getting better and better."
Polishing the "true colors" of civilization, warming guests from all directions
"Familiarize yourself with the venue layout in advance, correctly guide guests to participate in various activities, and pay attention to the details of cross-cultural communication..." As the festival approaches its closing ceremony, Lu Diyang, a graduate student majoring in Accounting at the Sanya Ocean Research Institute of Ocean University of China, has also become "nervous." At the same time, Lu Diyang has made ample preparations for being responsible for guiding foreign guests during the festival's closing ceremony.
Just like Lu Diyang, many volunteers are making preparations for the conclusion of this cinematic event: whether it is guiding over a thousand audience members to enter in an orderly manner, creating a warm service experience for them, or providing services such as traffic direction and audience guidance outside the venue, busyness is their state, and responsibility is their attitude. They use volunteer service to light up the light of civilization in this city, allowing guests from all over to feel the character and warmth of the city, and making volunteer service a brilliant hallmark of civilization.
The work of volunteers, whether big or small, is an "integral part" of the HIIFF. What is given is hard work, and what is returned is energy. For Yin Xin, a sophomore student majoring in Marketing at Sanya Zhongrui Hotel Management College, a polite smile or a sincere word of thanks is enough to move her. As the volunteer leader for the festival's opening and closing ceremonies, she is mainly responsible for coordinating the volunteer work among various departments such as the director's team and the production team. "Coordination is not an easy task, but in the process, I learned a lot of communication skills and methods, and exercised my management and coordination abilities. It can be said that I have better applied what I have learned into practice."
"Volunteer service is an important component of the festival. During the service process, volunteers showcase the city image of Sanya with high-quality volunteer service, and also allow us to harvest a happy and unforgettable memory," Xue Jiao said. Every bit of volunteer strength is a striking "calling card," highlighting the civilized warmth of a city and warming guests from all directions.
When the lights come on, films, filmmakers, and cinephiles gather together, blending all phenomena into light and shadow, and holding a grand event in Hainan. Amidst the sparkling starlight, the unique charm of an open Hainan shines through. In the vast army of volunteers, the dedicated teams and individuals are the shining sparks. Just like the theme of this festival, "The Ocean Generates All Phenomena · New Forces of Light and Shadow," the experience of being a volunteer is like a beam of light illuminating the budding film dreams of the young volunteers.
Source: Zhang Huibin, Reporter of Sanya Media Convergence, Gui Zhouqi, Intern
Editor: Ye Ziyi
