CHENGDU, the capital of Sichuan Province widely known as a paradise for pandas and foodies, is now a city for cinema lovers after staging the 2nd BRICS Film Festival.

The event, which brought together talent from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, concluded Tuesday.

Among the highlights of the festival was the announcement that the five nations will jointly produce five movies — one for each year from 2017 to 2022; and the plan that the Beijing Film Academy, the country’s largest movie university, will provide 40 full scholarships to students from BRICS countries.

The first co-production of the five countries is “Where Has Time Gone?” and it comprises five stories in 110 minutes.

The film, with stories directed by China’s Jia Zhangke, Russian Alexey Fedorchenko, Indian Madhur Bhandarkar, South African Jahmil X.T. Qubeka and Brazilian Walter Moreira Salles, Jr., won the artistic contribution prize of the Panda Award, the festival’s highest honor.

Jia’s story is about a Chinese couple struggling to decide if they want a second child after the country’s new family planning policy took effect.

Fedorchenko says a Chinese news report inspired his Russian tale, which features a man relying on an artificial device made from a musical instrument to survive.

The Brazilian story explores post-disaster traumas in a mudslide town, while the India section is a tale about an elderly man and a street child. The only sci-fi tale among the five is the South African story, which is set around 1,000 years in the future.

Xie Fei, chairman of the jury, says the movie project exemplifies cultural exchanges and how filmmakers from the five countries could team up.

The other Panda awards went to: “Nice: The Heart of Madness” (Brazil), the best picture; Russians Kim Druzhinin and Andrey Shalopa, best director for war epic “Panfilov’s 28”; Zhou Dongyu, for best actress for coming-of-age romance “Soul Mate”; Indian Alok Rajwade, for best actor for “Turtle: Kaasav”; and “The Second Mother” (Brazil) and “Ayanda: Women” (South Africa), jury’s special award.

Visual feast

The festival provided a visual feast for cinephiles.

During the five-day festival, which was held from June 23 to 27 with one day dedicated to each country in the grouping, 33 movies were screened in six local theaters.

The lineup included the Berlin Silver Bear-winner “Central Station” (1998) from Brazil and “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” (2017), one of the highest-grossing Indian movies.

Makhotso Maggie Sotyu, head of the South African delegation and the deputy minister of arts and culture, says the festival entertains as well as serves as an integral part of the many important and strategic steps being taken to realize the BRICS Summit 2017 theme of “deepening partnership for a brighter future.”

“Film is one of the few unique artistic tools of expression that play an important role in cultural exchanges, co-existence and tolerance,” says Sotyu.

Tong Gang, deputy director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, says the festival has demonstrated the unique charm of cinema and enhanced people-to-people exchanges among the five countries.

More co-productions

Speaking about Indian movies, Ashok Parmar, head of the Indian delegation, says that in recent years, Indian movies have become popular in the Chinese mainland market, thanks to “Dangal,” “P.K.” and “Three Idiots,” all starring Indian superstar Aamir Khan.

He says cinema is part of India’s soft power with most of its globally successful hits resonating with audiences beyond its borders.

Parmar also says India and China, two countries both with rich culture and abundant history, can make more films on contemporary themes.

The two countries signed a film co-production agreement in 2014, and to date have coproduced several movies, such as Jackie Chan’s movie “Kung Fu Yoga” and Huang Xiaoming’s “Xuanzang.”

India produces more than 1,000 films in around 20 languages every year.

As for Russia, Boris Mashtaler, head of the Russian delegation, says Chinese filmmakers once used to be influenced a lot by Russian movies and this is now seeing a revival.

“The film industry is important to connect people. And many Chinese-language films are very popular in Russia,” says Mashtaler, also the executive director of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia.

He says that co-productions between China and Russia are in pipeline, such as Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Mystery of the Iron Mask: Journey to China.”

A common concern for most BRICS countries is Hollywood blockbusters that dominate their markets.

Xoliswa Sithole, a jury member from South Africa, says it should be the collective responsibility for the BRICS countries to change this.

“We have a lot to share. China started trading with South Africa more than 1,000 years ago, so all what we are doing now is resuming the business.”

Marcos Caramuru de Paiva, head of Brazilian delegation and the Brazilian ambassador to China, says the festival “helps a lot of our filmmakers to see China” and also praised the cooperation plans.

“There is a lot in common between our two societies. We really hope to see more (Brazilian movies in China),” he says. “Chinese audiences will be quite interested in Brazilian films.”

In addition to the five co-productions and scholarships, the Beijing Film Academy will also hold workshops to encourage students from BRICS countries to co-produce movies, invite visiting scholars and hold master classes.

(China Daily)