THE 2017 BRICS Film Festival will be held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in June and Chinese director Jia Zhangke’s new short film will have its debut screening there, it was announced at the 7th Beijing International Film Festival.

    Thirty films from BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will be screened, including an anthology of short films by five directors from the countries involved under the title of “Where Has the Time Gone.”

    The feature film, consisting of five 18-minute shorts on the same theme, is the joint work of Walter Salles from Brazil, Aleksey Fedorchenko from Russia, Madhur Bhandarkar from India, Jahmil X.T. Qubeka from South Africa, and Jia Zhangke from China. The collaboration project known as the “Magnificent 5” was a creative idea formed when leaders of the five countries met in India in 2016.

    Jia told a press conference in Beijing last week: “The emotions from all five stories can be shared by everyone. The five BRICS countries share similarities in their fast growth, but have also faced big challenges at the same time. It will be very interesting to see how the cultures clash and how we show different approaches of wisdom on the same theme.”

    The title of his short is literally translated as “Meeting the Spring,” which was shot in Pingyao, Shanxi Province, and stars actress Zhao Tao. It’s a story inspired by China’s second child policy. The film will be released in China in September after its premiere at the BRICS film festival.

    Jia added that the film would be a good demonstration of the deep communications and cooperation among the film industries of the BRICS countries.

    The directors are all masters in their own right.

    For instance, Salles’ “Central Station” was nominated for the Oscars in the best foreign language category in 1999, and Quebka is seen as one of the best directors in South Africa thanks to “A Small Town Called Descent” (2010) and “Of Good Report” (2013).

    Jia is internationally known for his socially conscious films, such as “Still Life,” a Golden Lion winner in Venice in 2006; and ‘Mountains May Depart,” nominated in Cannes in 2015.

    The first BRICS Film Festival was held in New Delhi, India, last September. This year’s edition will be held in Chengdu June 23-27.

    Chinese director Xie Fei will preside over the festival’s jury to decide best picture, best director and best actors.

    China will host the ninth BRICS annual summit in the coastal city of Xiamen this September, as the country takes the rotating chair of the influential bloc. The BRICS Film Festival is one of a series of activities preceding the summit.

    (SD-Agencies)