The 6th Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) "Young Coconut Project" Venture Training Camp announced its mentor lineup today, with Li Xiaofeng, Nai An, Song Taijia, and Zhu Lin serving as mentors. The mentors will attend the "Young Coconut Project" Venture Training Camp workshops and final roadshow events in both Beijing and Hainan, ultimately selecting the top 8 short film projects.
The 6th HIIFF is hosting the "Young Coconut Project" Venture Training Camp (HIIFF Talents) for the first time, serving as a core film industry event to support young directors in shooting short films, providing young creators with immediate opportunities to start filming, and helping the short film dreams of young filmmakers solidly take root.
This year's "Young Coconut Project" Venture Training Camp has invited four senior filmmakers to form the mentor panel: director, screenwriter, and producer Li Xiaofeng; executive producer and producer Nai An; director and screenwriter Song Taijia; and editing supervisor Zhu Lin. (Listed in alphabetical order by surname pinyin)
Next, the mentors will attend the "Young Coconut Project" Venture Training Camp workshops in Beijing and Hainan, engaging in face-to-face exchanges with the creators of the top 15 shortlisted projects, and providing them with multi-dimensional professional guidance across directing, producing, screenwriting, editing, and acting.
Following the workshops, the mentors will attend the final roadshow session to ultimately select the top 8 short film projects. The "Young Coconut Project" Venture Training Camp will provide financial support of 120,000 RMB to each of the top 8 short film projects to help them complete their subsequent filming and production.
Li Xiaofeng
Li Xiaofeng
Director | Screenwriter | Producer
In 2024, directed the film Pegasus Meteor; in 2020, wrote and directed the film Wild Grass, which was nominated for Best Film at the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival Golden Goblet Awards; in 2014, wrote and directed his first feature film Nezha, which received nominations for Best New Director and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 51st Golden Horse Awards, and a New Currents nomination at the 19th Busan International Film Festival; in 2017, his crime drama film The Looming Storm, which he wrote and directed, was selected for the Hidden Dragons section at the 1st Pingyao International Film Exhibition, received a Kim Jiseok Award nomination in the Window of Asia section at the 23rd Busan International Film Festival, and was screened at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Nai An
Nai An
Executive Producer | Producer
Graduated from the Directing Department of the Central Academy of Drama in 1991, and began participating in film production as an independent executive producer in 1993. Founded Beijing Dream Work Culture and Art Co., Ltd. in 1999, and executive produced features such as Suzhou River (2000), Purple Butterfly (2003), Spring Fever (2009), Blind Massage (2014), and The Shadow Play (2018). Won the Best Actress Award at the Locarno Film Festival for I Still Have Something to Say (2012); other acting works include A Simple Life (2016) and A Family Tour (2018).
Song Taijia
Sonthar Gyal
Director | Screenwriter
Mainland Chinese director and screenwriter. Began creating feature films as a director and screenwriter in 2011, with works including The Observer, Lhamo and Skalbe, Ala Changso, River, and The Sun Beaten Paths, which have repeatedly won awards at major international film festivals including Berlin, Vancouver, Locarno, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.
Zhu Lin
Jolin Zhu
Editing Supervisor
Film editor and editing supervisor. Editing representative works include Wild Kids, Good Luck, Lighting Up the Stars, Only Fools Rush In, A Writer's Odyssey, Sister, A Little Red Flower, My Love, Dying to Survive, The Shadow Play, Forever Young, and Blind Massage. The edited film Blind Massage won Best Editing at the 51st Golden Horse Awards and was nominated for Best Editing at the 30th China Film Golden Rooster Awards; the film Dying to Survive was nominated for Best Editing at the 55th Golden Horse Awards; the film A Writer's Odyssey was nominated for Best Editing at the 34th China Film Golden Rooster Awards; the film Lighting Up the Stars was nominated for Best Editing at the 35th China Film Golden Rooster Awards.
The four mentors have not only achieved outstanding accomplishments in their respective fields but are also passionately dedicated to nurturing new film talent. The "Young Coconut Project" Venture Training Camp will join hands with the four mentors to provide multifaceted support for the development of young filmmakers, closely following every step of the top 8 shortlisted projects from planning to filming and production, and looking forward to the final realization of the top 8 projects' completed films.
