On July 11, the 2025 Green Youth Film Festival officially kicked off in Yantai City, Shandong Province.
This brand screening event, the "Green Plan" (CFDG China Young Film Directors Support Program) hosted by the China Film Directors Association, is co-supported by Yantai City, China Central Radio and Television CCTV Video, and Human Guide. It is divided into two screening units, "Green Treading on the Waves" and "Light and Shadow Tides". It will screen 10 films in 4 days and hold 5 master sharing and dialogue activities.
Film festival poster: Photo provided by China Film Directors Association
In his opening speech, Jia Zhangke, president of the China Film Directors Association, said, "The Green Onion Film Festival is based on the training and discovery of young Chinese directors. I hope that we can work together to enable more young directors and young people with film dreams to show their talents in the Chinese film market and on the Chinese screen."
Jia Zhangke delivered a speech
Jia Zhangke also introduced the composition of this year's film festival. One part is a selection of five works by young directors launched by the "Green Plan" of the China Film Directors Association that have been released nationwide, showing the creativity of young directors and the diverse possibilities of future films; the other part selects works by five directors of different eras, including the opening film "The River Mistake" directed by Wei Shujun and the closing film "The Gold Rush" by Charlie Chaplin 100 years ago.
Roundtable Forum: "Let more film projects enter the market smoothly"
At the first dialogue event "Green Onion Breaking Ground: Creation in Progress", Jia Zhangke talked with previous "Green Onion Project" directors Chen Xiaoyu, Gao Peng, Geng Zihan, Hao Feihuan and Long Lingyun about creation.
Jia Zhangke takes a photo with young directors
Gao Peng thanked the mentors of the "Green Onion Project" for solving problems for the script project, providing solid support, and "managing" a movie responsibly; Geng Zihan admitted that he learned about how the industry works through the Green Onion Project, grew rapidly under the pressure of venture capital, and gained close peers; Chen Xiaoyu believed that the Green Onion Project protected the creative spark from the perspective of creators, and he said: "As long as we express ourselves well, we can make the film market richer"; Hao Feihuan praised the "Green Onion Project" for giving young directors the practical attitude of "actually paying for sample films"; Long Lingyun believed that the front-line mentors of the "Green Onion Project" gave him guidance based on rich practical experience, helping him to make the leap from a movie fan to a director.
Jia Zhangke delivered a speech
Jia Zhangke said: "The Green Onion Project was initiated and founded by director Li Shaohong, and the members of the association have devoted their efforts, which has yielded fruitful results with a high success rate." He also said that the current Executive Committee of the Directors Association will continue to improve the public and international nature of the Green Onion Project while maintaining the excellent tradition of the Green Onion Project. "We will share this high-quality film and cultural resource with more audiences, help more Green Onion Project projects to enter the big screen, and allow more film projects to enter the market smoothly."
The opening films "A Mistake by the River" and "Away on a Boat" sparked heated discussions
On the 11th, the films "A Mistake by the River" and "Away on a Boat" were screened and exchanged after the screening as the opening films of this year's film festival. Director Wei Shujun said that "A Mistake by the River" was a work by novelist Yu Hua when he was young, full of impact and imagination. "This film was shot standing on the shoulders of giants, and it was a pleasure to work with Zhu Yilong. He interpreted the character of Ma Zhe in a restrained and unique way, allowing the audience to enter the character's spiritual world."
Director Wei Shujun answers questions from the audience
An audience member asked about the reason why Ma Zhe gradually went crazy during the case-solving process. Wei Shujun responded that what drove Ma Zhe crazy the most was the inexplicable reasons for the murders in his dreams and the connections between the dead. "This disrupted a policeman's inherent logic of investigating a case and made him realize the limitations of rationality." Regarding the film's use of 16mm film and the use of fixed and shaking lenses in the film, director of photography Cheng Ma explained, "At the beginning, we wanted to use a relatively soothing panoramic presentation. As the character's emotions change, the shaking lens follows the character's mental health status."
Talking about the core of this creation, Wei Shujun believes that it is absurdity and deconstruction of meaning. "This is consistent with the style of Mr. Yu Hua's parody works at that time. The so-called parody is that there is no love in the romance film, and there is no kung fu in the kung fu film. So in such a detective film, the emphasis is not on logic, but on the part of human nature beyond rationality, which is particularly fierce. When we turn the novel into a movie, the form will change, but the internal genes cannot be changed. It is just a reinterpretation."
Director Chen Xiaoyu introduces the origin of the creation
At the post-screening meeting for "Leaving by Boat", director Chen Xiaoyu shared his creative experience. "The reason why this film was created is because I have always lived in my hometown and have always met my grandmother. More than 90% of the lines of Zhou Jin (played by Ge Zhaomei), an elderly person living alone in the film, were said by my grandmother in real life. The reason why I made this film is that I want to share this power that has aroused so many emotions in me and brought me so much healing with the audience."
Chen Xiaoyu emphasized the importance of emotional expression in film creation. "When I was dealing with some of the plots and images in the film, my thoughts behind them all included my understanding of themes such as life and death, family affection, and hometown. For example, the scene at the beginning of the film where the old lady lives alone, and the scene where the siblings row a boat, seem to be stagnant from the perspective of the plot development of the play, but they are all important parts of showing the character's state and emotions and cannot be omitted."
