Leaders of three of the world’s most influential film festivals said in Shanghai on Sunday that the film festival circuit’s role in discovering and developing new voices has never been more important, and that personal connections, not data, are the true compass for identifying talent.
Berlin Film Festival director Tricia Tuttle opened the main forum session of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival by asserting that “discovery and connection” are the twin pillars that justify the festival’s existence in the age of algorithms and online networks. As proof that structured career development remains invaluable, Tuttle pointed to the Berlinale’s annual talent program, which attracts applications from more than 100 countries and brings 200 emerging directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, editors, composers and critics to Berlin each year. “First-time filmmakers can bring their lesser-known work to Berlin, Toronto or Shanghai and meet distributors, sales agents, producers and potential collaborators within a week,” she said. “That’s what discovery and connection mean.”
Toronto Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey grounded the argument in commercial reality, noting that TIFF has served as a springboard for films from The Shawshank Redemption to The Martian. The latter generated approximately $600 million worldwide after closing in Toronto. He told the story of how the young British filmmaker came to TIFF in 1998 with his low-budget black-and-white film debut, which garnered huge attention from audiences, the press, and the industry. That movie director was Christopher Nolan, who directed “Following”.
Mr. Bailey spoke about TIFF’s launch of the Toronto International Film Festival Market, a dedicated market with more than 9,000 square meters of exhibition space, 120 exhibitors and approximately 6,000 industry representatives. The market will focus on film, television, new media deals, scripts and series, with a section dedicated to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Producer Janet Yang, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, offered a cross-cultural perspective, recalling her early work introducing Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou’s films to North American audiences in the 1980s, when they were still being heard. “You can’t just look at superficial indicators of success,” Yang says. “We have to ask: What unique life experiences does this creator bring to the table? What singular perspectives do they have? What are the specific stories they urgently need to tell?” she said, describing the short film initiative she co-founded six years ago with the Asia Pacific Screen Alliance to provide funding and industry access to Asian female filmmakers in particular, and one of whose alumni will screen her debut at Sundance.
Albert Lee, executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, traced the history of HKIFF as a bridge between Chinese-language and international films, noting that Chen Kaige’s “The Yellow Earth” had its international premiere at the 9th festival in 1985. HKIFF celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with the theme “Imagining the Future Beyond 50,” and director Lee explained his long-term relationships with filmmakers such as Jia Zhangke. His short story “Xiao Shan Going Home” first gained attention in Hong Kong in 1996, and a decades-long exhibition partnership continued with his latest work, “Caught by the Tides.” Mr. Lee highlighted HKIFF’s Firebird Award competition, which qualifies for Oscars in the short and documentary categories, and outlined partnerships with production companies such as Suosho Juying and Supermedia Group to support new feature and short projects from across Asia.
In her speech, Chen Guo, director of the Shanghai International Film Festival Center, announced a series of upgrades to the festival’s human resources infrastructure. The SIFF ING Youth Talent Initiative is introducing a new filmmaking workshop using mobile phones for the first time this year. The SIFF NEXT Pitching Program opens industry workshops to professionals as well as the general public. SIFF YOUNG Shanghai Young Filmmaker Support Plan celebrates its fifth anniversary with a new focus on commercial producer talent. Mr. Chen also noted that 41 of the 49 films in this year’s SIFF five Gold Cup competition categories were world premieres, with a world premiere rate of 84%, making it the first time that SIFF has achieved 100% world premieres in the main competition category and documentary category.
Wen Muie, the director of “Dying to Survive”, chaired this year’s SIFF YOUNG selection committee, which announced the nine filmmakers (5 directors, 3 producers, and 1 screenwriter) selected from 59 candidates. Director Bai Xue and screenwriter Zhou Yunhai were also included. Looking back on his career, Wen said the creative process is an antidote to loneliness. “We all tend to be in a state of solitude when creating art,” he said. “Working together, whether it’s a director and a screenwriter, or a director and a producer, is a way to overcome that loneliness. SIFF and SIFF YOUNG are places that provide companionship.”
The panel discussion that followed included Wang Jun, chairman of Shanghai Film Group. Li Jie, CEO of Damai Entertainment. Producer Chen Zhishi. Wen; and director and screenwriter Don Runyan toured the limits of formula again and again. Li, whose company backed “Dear You,” one of the blockbuster hits of 2026, said the film’s success can be traced back to the relationship he built with director Lan Hongchun through several low-budget Chaoshan dialect films, the first of which recorded box office revenue of about 40 million yuan. “The moment you try to recreate something, the possibilities are already diminished,” Lee says. “The audience is always in front of us.”
Director Dong, who trained as a screenwriter before directing and credited his collaboration with directors Guan Fu and Ning Hao with deepening his craft, argued that storytelling ability is one skill young filmmakers can’t outsource. “There has been a global decline in screenwriting ability over the past 10 years,” he says. “Movies that are able to tell their story clearly and emotionally accurately tend to find an audience.”
Chen Zhishi, who has made films with directors such as Da Peng and Chen Sicheng, told young filmmakers in the early 2010s that the qualities that distinguish the generation she worked with were honesty and tenacity, rather than following trends. He said Wanda Cinemas announced in June a new initiative to give emerging directors access to screening time through the chain’s crowdfunding exhibition mechanism, Piñaopian, and will set aside 10% of its annual screening time for independent and youth-led productions.
Wang Jun previewed that Shanghai Film Group’s Kunpeng Plan (announced in November 2024 as the second phase of the company’s new talent development plan) currently has four projects in development. Among them is “Story of Fire” by animator Li Wenyu. This work is a stop-motion piece that has been in production for three years and is rooted in the folk aesthetics of Sichuan province.
