Observation | FIRST Youth Film Festival: Prepare a Buffer for Possible Deprivation

"Year after year, in FIRST, the persistence of ideals and the preparation to fight against death coexist, and we are here again. I am really happy. Thanks to the movie, all familiar and unfamiliar people can find A road leading to the heart and the outside world, thanks to Xining, all sincere expressions have found the soil for survival.”
Li Ziwei, CEO of FIRST Film Festival, shouted to everyone at the moment when the film festival closed, "We have won!"

FIRST event site

2022 is the third year of coexisting with the new crown virus, and the sense of unknown seems to be a kind of collective emotion that permeates the public space. With the disappearance of movie theaters, the withdrawal of movies and the off-season box office that keeps hitting new lows, discussions about movies have become increasingly rare and precious. In the field of FIRST, filmmakers, film festivals and audiences are still tirelessly using forums and roundtables to discuss how to find the attraction of film again, and what kind of expressions and works we need now.
Whether it is a new work shortlisted in the main unit, or the growing ecology presented by the film market, or the vigorous and fearless creative power that broke out in the training camp, they are all doing their best to make the audience and the industry perceive a predictable future.
Always be on the side of young people
The newer power than the main competition unit comes from the venture capital and training camp sections of the film festival.
From August 1st to August 2nd, at the FIRST Film Market · Venture Capital Conference, the 20 annual selected film plans went through three rounds of primary selection review, script review and proposal review, and reached the final public statement. The final judges Guo Junli, Huang Bo, Huang Jianxin, Yang Chao, Zhou Dongyu and representatives of market guests, under the chairmanship of Shao Yihui, the director of the selected projects of the 14th FIRST Venture Capital Conference, had a communication and dialogue at the presentation site.

FIRST movie poster

According to the analysis, the five major types of episodes this year are still family, love, comedy, suspense and crime. At the same time, in the movie plans delivered this year, you can still see the creators' attention and response to current social issues. Social issues include epidemics, depression, families who have lost their only child, youth suicide, school bullying, cyber violence, abduction, sexual assault, etc. Some projects are based on popular social events, such as killers being hired by Guangxi who are subcontracted layer by layer. The murder case, the unjustly imprisoned Zhang Zhichao case, and the abduction and trafficking case of women, etc., all make people see the care and attention of young creators to the current life.
At the presentation of the venture capital meeting, we can see that the unique "greenness" and "arrogance" of young people are intertwined, and the judges will also give pertinent suggestions.
The host of this year's venture capital meeting is Shao Yihui, the director of last year's hit dark horse movie "Myth of Love". As a young director from this venture capital platform to the market, Shao Yihui, with a "maiden's family" attitude, defends her juniors on the scene to resist the "sharp comments" from industry seniors.
"You must insist on yourself, even if others think you can't do this, you must insist on doing what you want to do the most." "We have already faced a lot of castration, so don't rush to castrate yourself"...

Shao Yihui, host and director of the venture capital meeting

Talking about changing his identity and standing on the stage of venture capital, Shao Yihui said in an interview, "Because I came out of venture capital myself, I know that standing there is a very nervous experience for many new creators. It’s also a very difficult thing. We are not very good at promoting ourselves. I know this kind of entanglement, so I want to speak for them. Moreover, the judges and bosses in the audience have seen many people who are skilled in the world, so it should always be Stand by these young people."

Venture capital meeting site

When the companies in the industry have little but real support one by one, young creators have found a certainty in their original intentions of creation. The director of "Xiaowen Noodle House" Miao Jina was once doubted by the judges when she made a statement about the "safety" of the background involved in the theme, and this piece of work, which originated from her important life experience, was finally awarded by Paihua Media's "Asteroid Project". , Mujina said firmly, "The emotion of "Xiaowen Noodle House" is strong and difficult. I have two choices. If I want to shoot, I can shoot what I want, or I don't shoot."
The biggest winner of the night, "The Botanist", who won the "ARRI AWARD" and "Dream General Dreamer Project Award", changed the jerky statement when he made his statement, and arrogantly said to the film company boss, "You made the right choice" "Then we will Let's go and see."
The biggest surprise came from the project "Flower Pig". After all the awards were announced, Li Ziwei revealed that there was a project that made the judges "lost their minds and had to add money" during the discussion. This temporary special boost award was given by General Meng. , Shangshi Culture, Matt Culture, and Weifeng Xiaohua jointly sponsored 300,000 yuan in cash, "They are going to start a movie here. After the ceremony tonight, it can start tomorrow, setting the fastest FIRST venture capital investment. Boot record."

"Flower Pig"

Director Li Chong told The Paper after the meeting that he had received olive branches from many parties at the negotiation meeting in recent days, but he would still treat his first work cautiously, "The more money, the better. , if the addition of some funds will affect my expression and make me deviate from the original intention of my creation, then I would rather not have this money."
"It's not catering, and it's not a shortcut. When the market falls into a trough, every one of our film companies is looking forward to the release of explosives to save the market. It is precisely at this time that we should be more awake. What is an explosion? Only with a solid companion system , industrial system, it is possible to achieve 'explosive models'." Li Ziwei talked about the significance of this stage to the film company bosses in this way.
One day earlier, on August 2, seven short films "The time is too late, the people waiting to die", "Error", "I fainted, it's the hour hand", "Annular Eclipse", "International School", "Killing Loneliness". "I Still Know You, Eleven" completed its world premiere at the Oscar International Cinema in Xining.
These fresh works, which took only 3 days to overcome all kinds of unexpected accidents, came from 35 freshmen students of the FIRST training camp. The theme of this year's FIRST training camp is "timing", and director Zhang Lu is invited to serve as the annual mentor. Performance consultants Wang Chuanjun and Zhou Yiwei, script consultants Ge Rui, Qin Haiyan, Pan Yanyan, Xin Yukun, photography consultants Li Ran, Park Songri, Art consultants Liang Honghu and Zhong Cheng, sound consultants Huang Zheng and Zhang Jinyan, editing consultants Kong Jinlei, Liu Hsinchu, and Tu Yiran form a mentor advisory group. A total of 35 young filmmakers from five directions of director, producer, photography, art, and recording were recruited to form seven crews.

The theme of this year's FIRST training camp is "timing"

Young people who have just come into contact with their movie dreams feel the "splendid" moment of the movie in the actual combat drill-in the scene of the crew "Killing Loneliness", the filming fell into scarcity and burnout. Zeng Haoran experienced the fun of on-site creation in strict accordance with the storyboard photography; when the "Error" crew was shooting the tracking scene, the next theater suddenly broke into the huge "Dinosaur Roar" sound effect. Under the fear of the camera, the noise intervention became more and more It is unique; after the launch of "International School", when 80% of the scenes were confirmed not to be filmed, the team also staged a play-in-play during the process of withdrawing from the scene and rushing to shoot...

"International School" filming site

As Zhang Yi, director of "Killing Loneliness" said, the focus of the training camp is the "communication process". The presentation is not for competition, but how much nutrients you can get is the most important. Under the turbulent interaction of the team and the mentor advisory group, the young people practiced the creative possibilities of the film world in person. The process of continuous overthrow is far beyond the original ability and imagination.
The entire training and support system of FIRST is based on the experience and actual combat along the way, and is constructed by "reversing", Li Ziwei introduced, "Because you have seen it, even if it is a film that entered the main competition, you will see it with the naked eye. It would be great to strengthen some areas, or be more professional. You can see some technical deficiencies, or understand the source of those deficiencies, and there will be a training camp; or if you feel that the script can be improved a little more, it will be fine , there will be venture capital; or some you watch the performance of the actors, just because the director is inexperienced, it makes do, but it turns out that there is an idea that has not been realized, so we have a laboratory, in-depth incubation, and hope to accompany the director to grow." Li Ziwei said, "It's because I'm really anxious for these better films and filmmakers that I have such a series of retroactive work. It's a chain reaction, starting from a point to expand, and slowly building a large scale. The network that wraps each seed around and slowly penetrates the nutrients."

Li Ziwei, CEO of FIRST Film Festival

And when everything sets sail, what they have to face will return to the creation itself.
Even if he has achieved success in the general sense, Shao Yihui still feels that "the future is always difficult, I mean the difficulty in creation, although it is difficult to find money, but the creation is even more difficult, and it is not for me. There will be any weakening. But here is where courage and strength can be gathered.” Facing the "junior people" who came to ask her for advice, Shao Yihui said to them over and over again, "Let's do our best together."
The other side of scarcity is the accumulation of energy
On the last day of the festival, director Cai Chengjie, who once walked out of FIRST, returned here with his second feature film "Forty-Four Astringent Persimmons". In the second film completed in five years, the creator's techniques are more proficient, and the care and expression of life are more firmly hammered into the hearts of every viewer. Many filmmakers who watched the premiere on the spot expressed their desire to "slow down" when they were invited by the host to express their feelings after watching.

Closing film "Forty-Four Astringent Persimmons"

Under the epidemic, it has become extraordinarily difficult to hold film festivals. This year's FIRST Youth Film Festival, for the first time, did not have the participation of ordinary audiences due to the consideration of epidemic prevention, but industry practitioners from all over the country rushed to Xining one after another, in order to breathe this fresh air about movies. "As long as the lights can be lit, all the suffering is worthless, and all the doubts are gone. As long as the movie can be played and watched, as a festival, this is the biggest dream."

live screening

At this year's Bricks Forum, talking about the changes in the external environment over the years, Zhang Jialu, the judge and screenwriter of the main competition unit, said, "I have been working on project development, and I clearly feel the changes in the past few years. Before 2017, everything was shot. , After 2018, we will talk about censorship first, and now we will talk about 'three views' first when we sit down. The evaluation system is also changing, and the box office has become an important value system to avoid offending the audience. This has become a phenomenon that is often encountered when making movies. This year at FIRST, I saw a movie that provokes the audience, has a threshold for watching movies, and stimulates the audience to think. I feel relieved."
Film market reviewer and director Yang Chao believes, "FIRST is what a film festival should look like. The film festival is a 'R&D institution' for the industry, providing new concepts, languages, methods, themes, aesthetic styles for the entire film industry, and the environment is indeed shrinking. There are too many hardships and twists and turns, we should always let the film festival be the engine of the market box office, and in a shrinking environment, it is of great value to be like this."

Film Market Review, Director Yang Chao

But an undeniable fact is that FIRST is still a niche. Zhang Ziyi, who came here from a bigger stage, expressed her "unwillingness" after watching all the participating feature films, "Here, we see a lot of fans who 'entertain themselves', but this group's How many are there? If only within this range, how many opportunities are there for the expressions of these films to be seen, and how many opportunities are there for people to recognize these fresh faces. I don’t know how long the life cycle of these works is? If not in this film On land, there may be no chance to see it, which is frustrating."

Zhang Ziyi, Chairman of the Jury

Li Ziwei temporarily changed the theme of the film market forum to "Prepare a buffer for possible scarcity". It looks a bit pessimistic, unlike her daily blood-filled appearance.
"The things we see in the movie market are already decreasing, and the things we can see are not rich enough, and the meaning of the platform is not to try to save some good talent seeds for everyone first, and one day there will be suitable for it. The soil can bloom." She doesn't think such a statement is pessimistic, "The so-called preparation is to do this, whether it is a training camp in the industrial chain, or a script-oriented venture capital, or ' Semi-finished 'industrial screenings. We may feel a lack, but it doesn't mean that there is a shortage at the moment, because there are actually a lot of films that are being suppressed. And, if we feel that there is some shortage at the moment, we will We should see the other side of scarcity, the energies that have not yet been released in our savings, and cherish and protect them.”

Film festival scene

Every screening this year, Li Ziwei always ends with this sentence when introducing before the screening, "When the light is dim, the movie is in front of you. When the light is on, the movie is in your heart. "The film festival is over, and the future of film is still in front of many people's eyes and in the hearts of more people.