On October 11, the 7th Pingyao International Film Festival kicked off in the ancient city of Pingyao, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province. With the theme of "Modern Era", this year's film festival will screen a total of 33 films from 33 countries and regions including China, France, Tunisia, Argentina, Vietnam, Brazil, Iran, Mongolia, Congo (DRC), Portugal, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Qatar. 57 videos. The official screening unit brings together the world's freshest film masterpieces, of which 40% are world premieres; 71% of films are Asia premieres; 97% of films are China premieres; and the mainland China premiere rate is 100%.

At the opening ceremony held that night, Pingyao Film Festival artistic director Lin Xudong, chief consultant Marco Muller, and special curator Wang Junkai took the stage to introduce the shortlisted films of this film festival; the various honorary judges of this film festival appeared one by one, Huang Xuan, Wang Mu, Wen Qi, Ma Su, Mei Feng, etc. spoke on behalf of their respective jury groups. Huang Xuan said, "The ancient city of Pingyao is a city with a long history, and Shanxi is a place that gave birth to many film works. I believe that this film exhibition will also have many great films." Wen Qi shared her expectations at the scene, "I hope that in Pingyao, an ancient city full of cultural heritage, we can explore more film possibilities."

Pingyao Film Festival Art Director Lin Xudong, Chief Consultant Marco Muller, Special Curator Wang Junkai

This year is Wang Junkai’s third time coming to the Pingyao Film Festival. He said that curating the exhibition in the new year is exciting. "I am very happy to witness the growth of Pingyao International Film Festival in the past three years. I can communicate and learn with so many seniors and teachers here. This opportunity is also very rare. I will also grow with Pingyao International Film Festival and do better of myself.”

The Pingyao International Film Festival solemnly awarded the film director, screenwriter, and producer Huang Jianxin the "Honour for Contribution to East-West Exchanges of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." All the young directors present who were shortlisted for the Hidden Dragon section of this film exhibition served as award guests and awarded honors to Director Huang Jianxin.

Director Wei Shujun and starring Zhu Yilong of the opening film "The Mistake by the River" took the stage to share the stories behind the creation of the film with the audience. Zhu Yilong said that the Pingyao International Film Festival has always been a platform for young filmmakers to showcase themselves, and he is very happy to be here.

At the opening ceremony, Lu Lu, a young teacher majoring in harp and harp from the Chinese Music Department of the China Conservatory of Music, performed the harp harp performance "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night". The musical instrument "harp harp" used in the performance was made from Pingyao's intangible cultural heritage "Pushing Lacquer Ware". The sound is clear and ethereal, and the sound quality is melodious and graceful. The North China University Chorus performed "Youth Cultivation Manual" and "Long Time No See" passionately, with the latter expressing nostalgia for the filmmaker who passed away this year.

"Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night" was performed at the opening ceremony

The AI short film "They Said" produced by the Pingyao International Film Festival and the "Architectural Intersection Exploration Group" of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University was also officially screened at the opening ceremony. The short film uses AI technology to bring the three deceased directors Fei Mu, Roberto Rossellini and Chaplin to the screen again. It is worth mentioning that due to the lack of original video data of Mr. Fei Mu, his speech in the short film was dubbed by the well-known actor Liao Fan. The theme of the 7th Pingyao International Film Festival "Modern Era" comes from the issues and thinking caused by the advent of a new generation of artificial intelligence. This short film follows the official poster based on AI-generated images. Pingyao International Film Festival is curating Another echo of the theme "Modern Times".

Opening ceremony scene

At the opening ceremony, a tribute was paid to director Wanma Tseden who passed away this year.

In addition, the screening of the short film "Destination: Future" based on the creative origin of the "Migration Plan·From Literature to Film and Television" section also became a highlight of the opening ceremony. In the short film, the Pingyao International Film Festival specially invited four writers, Li Jingze, Ban Yu, Zhai Yongming, and Yu Hua, to write a sentence about the future on a film exhibition-themed woven bag and pass it on to the four filmmakers Zhou Dongyu, Liang Ming, Huang Jianxin, and Zhu Yilong. , and finally brought to the Pingyao International Film Festival, starting from literature, using images as the medium, leading to the future.

Li Jingze

The well-known folk band Wutiao Ren brought the atmosphere to a climax with "Exactly the Same", "Plastic Flower" and "Daoshan Pretty Boy". Among them, "Exactly the Same", which was performed for the first time, is an episode in the new film "The Romantic Generation" currently being produced by director Jia Zhangke; Wu Tiaoren will also appear as an actor in this film. At the same time, the 4th Pingyao International Film Festival Fei Mu Honor Best Actor Zhou You will also perform in the film. Wutiaoren members Nishina and Maotao came to Pingyao as guests at the exhibition. The short film "Aphasia" they starred in was the opening film of the Pingyao corner section of this film exhibition.

Jia Zhangke

The "Pingyao Anticipation" films of this year's film exhibition, "I Saw Two Same Clouds", "Ultimate Fighter", "Old Gun" and "To the Moon" were also unveiled at the opening ceremony. "Pingyao Anticipation" is a fixed part of the Pingyao Film Festival every year, allowing the industry to learn about a batch of films that are about to enter the market.