This year's "Belt and Road" Film Week will screen a total of 18 films, with the theme of "The Road of Courage". The protagonists of the 18 films from different countries break through their inner constraints with an open and determined spirit of exploration, bravely take a step forward in their lives, and appreciate the unknown scenery.

Ten of the films to be screened have been announced this week. Today we will introduce eight films shortlisted for the Belt and Road Film Week, which were selected by professional film selectors.

These eight shortlisted films will also compete for three honors of the "Belt and Road" Film Week, namely: "Media Focus on Filmmakers", "Media Focus on Films" and "Audience's Most Favorite Film".

The "Most Popular Film" will be voted by the audience on site. We sincerely invite all movie fans to come and watch, rate these 8 shortlisted films on site, and recommend your favorite films!

The following are the eight shortlisted works of the Belt and Road Film Week:

The Colonists (2023)

The Settlers

Felipe Gálvez

Highlights:

A cruel page of colonial history revealed between magnificent mountains and rivers

In early twentieth-century Chile, a wealthy landowner hired three horsemen to demarcate the borders of his vast land and open a route through Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean. This expedition, led by a British lieutenant and composed of Chilean mestizos and American mercenaries, soon turned into an invasion of "civilization". The film was shortlisted for the "Un Certain Regard" section of the 76th Cannes Film Festival in 2023, and represented Chile in the 96th Academy Awards for Best International Film.

The warehouse is empty (2024)

The Midsummer's Voice

Zhang Yudi

Highlights:

Three young Peking Opera players join hands to face the challenges of dreams and growth

"Daocang" refers to the process of voice change during adolescence of opera actors. Sun Xiaolei's family has studied opera for three generations. His grandfather is a famous old-style actor. His father failed in "Daocang" when he was young and was frustrated. Carrying the halo of his grandfather and his father's unfulfilled dream, Sun Xiaolei is conceited and nervous. It is an important selection, and the delayed voice change period makes him anxious. In the process of preparing for the competition, Sun Xiaolei unexpectedly becomes friends with Shi Jiahui, a tomboyish old-style female actor, and Xie Tianci, who comes from a famous Peking Opera family. In this long summer, the three teenagers will usher in a "Daocang" belonging to adolescence.

Matriline (2023)

Matryoshka

Jorge Forero

Highlights:

Colombian female film, sincere performance, delicate and moving

"I am the daughter of my mother's mother." This relationship sounds a bit absurd, but it is the growth experience of the protagonist Anna in the film. Anna was sent to her grandmother for foster care by her mother since she was a child. She regarded her grandmother as her "mother", but she had a strange relationship with her biological mother. One weekend, three generations of grandparents and grandchildren unexpectedly gathered in the grandmother's country cottage, making the long-standing conflicts between them invisible, but also bringing an opportunity to heal their relationship. The film uses a delicate and gentle story narrative to explore the identity confusion brought to women by "becoming a mother" and the intergenerational friendship between mother and daughter.

The Murderer (2023)

Murderess

Eva Nathena

Highlights:

A win-win for both the Greek box office and the public

In a remote village on a Greek island, the birth of a girl means misfortune, because they are regarded as a burden to the family. The lonely and cold old woman Hadura appears to be resigned to her fate, but there are waves in her heart: there is nothing worse than being born a woman. And she seems to be able to do something about it. Adapted from the Greek modern literary classic of the same name, this film is the directorial debut of veteran set and costume designer Eva Natner. With exquisite costume and props design, superimposed on the unique landforms of the Greek island and the rock-built village, "The Female Murderer" will lead the audience into a psychological world full of tension.

Born on the Shore (2024)

Children of the Coast

Bruno Bancalari

Highlights:

A Coco-like musical journey through Mexico

"Born Along the Coast" is not only a documentary, but also a passionate and romantic musical journey. The film follows Afro-Mexican musicians from the Pacific coast of Mexico, bringing the audience into the vibrant coastal pop culture. They live along the coast, and through various instruments and microphones, they tell the traditions they cherish and their love for their hometown. Here, music not only flows with pure beauty and passion, but also is a language that connects people together.

If I Could Hibernate (2023)

If Only I Could Hibernate

Zoljargal Purevdash

Highlights:

A heartwarming version of "Nobody Knows" in the Mongolian winter scenery

A Mongolian boy from a poor family is gifted and intelligent. He hopes to change his fate with knowledge and win a university scholarship by participating in a competition. However, he faces a family problem: his mother decides to return to her hometown to work. How can he take his younger siblings through the severe cold in Ulaanbaatar? Despite the difficult environment, the film tells the boy's growth and transformation with a warm and optimistic touch; and uses his story as a mirror to reflect the dual impact of modernization on the descendants of nomadic peoples.

Hyphen (2023)

Gitling

Jopy Arnaldo

Highlights:

Seamless switching between five languages, a must-read for INFPs

When two words are hyphenated, new words and meanings are born. When two people meet and get to know each other, is it "we" or "you" and "me"? Jamie, a Japanese translator living in the Philippines, took on the subtitle translation work for a movie, and thus met the Japanese director Makoto. After work, the two wandered in street food, drinks and Jamie's own fictional language world, and gradually found things in each other that they never realized they needed. Dressed in the guise of a romance film, this film attempts to break the fragile "shell" of language and explore those moments between people that can only be understood by heart, and the regrets that are left unsaid.

Goodbye, Julia (2023)

Goodbye Julia

Mohamed Kordofani

Highlights:

A glimpse into the bigger picture from the smaller details: a glimpse into the customs of Khartoum and the social landscape of Sudan

This is the first Sudanese film ever to be selected for the official Cannes Film Festival. Mona, a well-off North Sudanese, has a secret hidden in her heart: she indirectly killed a stranger. To ease her guilt, she takes in the deceased's widow and son: Julia and Daniel from South Sudan. In and out of the family, two women with completely different life experiences begin an almost impossible friendship. Just as Mona decides to leave the past behind and embrace her present life, the country's unrest spreads to her family, forcing her to face the divisions in her heart.

The “Belt and Road” Film Week’s screenings in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta also plan to hold post-screening meet-and-greets, film critics’ guided tours and other activities (specific details are subject to official arrangements), so stay tuned.

Tickets for this year's film festival will go on sale on the Tao Piaopiao platform at 12 noon on June 7. Screenings outside Shanghai (Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Hefei) will go on sale online at 12 noon on June 8.

Note: If the film list changes, please refer to the actual schedule.