Foreign filmmakers continue ‘Ordos impression’ journey

A group of foreign filmmakers embark on a journey to explore the city of Ordos, following an opening ceremony marking the beginning of the Looking China Youth Film Project in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on June 21. [Photo/WeChat account of Ordos Reported]

A group of foreign filmmakers embarked on a journey to explore the city of Ordos, following an opening ceremony marking the beginning of the Looking China Youth Film Project in Inner Mongolia autonomous region which kicked off on June 21.

This is the fourth time that the project has been conducted in Ordos. It aims to display Chinese life through the eyes of foreign filmmakers. This year’s program was organized by Ordos New Media Center, with the support of Huilin Culture Fund at Beijing Normal University and the university’s Institute for International Communication of Chinese Culture. 

Su Cuifang, director of the publicity department of Ordos, Chen Guangju, former vice-president of Beijing Normal University and Cecilia Antakly De Mello, assistant professor at the University of Sao Paulo – who was also the leader of the foreign filmmakers-- as well as the 10 filmmakers from six countries including Brazil, Canada, Lebanon and Singapore, attended the opening ceremony. 

During the ceremony, Su delivered a speech in which she thanked the Institute for International Communication of Chinese Culture at Beijing Normal University for its long-term support for Ordos.

She expressed the hope that the participants in the project would seize the opportunity to experience Ordos for themselves while focusing on their filming. Su urged all the participating filmmakers to help lift the profile of Ordos around the world. 

Chen also encouraged the young filmmakers to create thought-inspiring and innovative works. 

Following the address, Su, Chen and Cecilia Antakly De Mello announced the opening of this year’s film shooting project.

Creative project explained

The Looking China International Youth Film Project was first initiated in 2011, and has taken place over eight consecutive years. It offers opportunities to young filmmakers from foreign countries to use their cameras to create their own unique interpretation of China. By the end of 2018, a total of 508 young people from 55 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and France, had produced 507 short films. These have won nearly 100 awards at foreign and domestic film festivals, according to statistics released by Beijing Normal University’s Institute for International Communication of Chinese Culture. 

Themed “Moment, Season and Time”, this year’s program will be held in various areas, including Beijing, Chongqing, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and Liaoning, Hubei, and Jiangsu provinces.

This year marks the fourth time that Ordos has hosted the program. Over the past three years, 21 directors from America, Europe and Asia have produced more than 10 short films, with some of them winning prizes or having their works shown at domestic and foreign film festivals. The opportunity to host such an important event has given Ordos an unrivalled opportunity to promote itself around the world. 

What will they film in Ordos?

During the program, the filmmakers will be divided into 10 groups and go to various areas in the city to shoot their films. According to a previous news release, the young filmmakers will make videos on 10 topics. These will include a film on a woman named Yin Yuzhen, who has been recognized for her desertification fighting efforts, a film on the well-known cross-desert highway in Ordos, and other works – including a film on Guru songs, a kind of traditional folk music popular in Ordos, a calligrapher of the Mongolian language, and among others.

Every participant in the program will have made a 10-miniute video to be premiered on July 5 and their works will be entered in a contest.

During the ceremony, Su delivers a speech in which she calls for participants in the filmmaking project to promote the profile of Ordos. [Photo/WeChat account of Ordos Reported]