Shanxi Province Hosts Pingyao International Film Festival on Oct. 19-26

Movies of young directors from developing nations would have their own film festival to be hosted by Chinese director Jia Zhangke. He announced on Thursday holding the Pingyao International Film Festival on Oct. 16-26 in Pingyao City, Shanxi Province.

More Asian, African & Latin American Films

The festival targets to exhibit outstanding work from different cultures and countries that consider people’s lives, human nature and societies from different angles. These brilliant films are needed badly to be introduced to Chinese audience, Associated Press quoted Jia Zhangke. He is hoping more movies from Asia, Africa and Latin America would be seen by Chinese moviegoers who are more exposed to North American and European cinema.

The artistic director of the film festival is Marco Mueller, a Swiss-Italian producer who megged the 2001 Bosnian movie “No Man’s Land.” Jia Zhangke is also an award-winning director whose credits include the film “A Touch of Sin” which is a nominee for the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. However, a lot of his movies were not shown in China after it encountered problems with the censors.

Tribute to Ang Lee’s Classic Film

The competition section for new directors of the film festival would be called “Crouching Tiger,” while the section with special focus on genre movies would be called “Hidden Dragon.” The naming of the two sections, approved by Ang Lee and James Schamus, producer-writer of the classic film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” is a tribute to Ang Lee’s film, Screen Daily reported.

The next project of Jia Zhangye, born in Fenyang, Shanxi Province, is “Money & Love” a crime drama which he is directing in collaboration with France’s MK2. Fabula Entertainment, Jia Zhangke’s company, would host the film festival in Pingyao City with the help of the local government. The city, a famous center of trade and finance in northern China, has an architectural heritage which goes back 2,700 years.