Duds Jostle With Delights as Chinas Indie Scene Is Kept at the Heart of FIRST Film Festival

Posted by Reinaldo Massengill on Friday, July 19, 2024

The FIRST International Film Festival, held annually high up on the plains of Tibet, prides itself as a discovery festival and has been described as a Chinese equivalent of Sundance.

But noted Chinese filmmaker Guan Hu (“Mister Six,” “Black Dog”) dealt FIRST organizers a blow on Sunday, when as head of the main competition jury, he refused to announce a best film winner.

“It is not that we didn’t see any good films, but the selection overall was not bold enough,” Guan said from the stage. In other comments, Guan suggested that the festival, aged 18 years old, should by now have reached the age of maturity, but in fact still needs to grow up.

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Fortunately, the jury did decide on a slew of other prizes. These included “Sailing Song of June” as the Grand Jury prize winner and “Chengzi 1” as winner of the Spirit of Innovation award.

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In recent editions, FIRST has selected and introduced Chinese films which have gone on to enjoy significant international success. These include “Drifting” by Jun Li and “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains” by Gu Xiaogang. Other notable figures who owe some of their success to FIRST and Xining include Wen Muye (“Dying to Survive”), Zhang Dalei (“The Summer Is Gone”) and the late Hu Bo (“An Elephant Sitting Still”).

And its market section, First Mart, will doubtless claim to have played its part in shaping “To Kill a Mongolian Horse,” a Malaysia-Hong Kong-U.S.-South Korea- Japan coproduction directed by Jiang Xiaoxuan, that will premiere as a completed film next month at the Venice Days sidebar of the Venice festival.

FIRST was established in 2006 by Song Wen, with a base initially in Beijing, before it relocated to the Qinghai Plateau in 2011. The advantages of such a remote location includes having a captive audience of motivated filmmakers and delegates who choose to be there and make the effort to travel.

This year they included Zhang Miao from Splendid Culture & Entertainment, and others from Lian Rui Pictures, Mahua FunAge (though the company canceled a planned press event), Tingdong Film and Happy Film Industry.

Over the July 20-28 period, the visitors have had access to a smorgasbord of films by Chinese first, second or third-time feature directors, feature documentaries, a selection of shorts, a project market and the female-oriented First Frame sidebar. Additionally, auteur Lou Ye was the figurehead of a mentoring event at which short filmmakers got to make a new short during the week-long festival.

The disadvantages of being in Xining include a smaller local base than would be available in a metropolis like Beijing or Shanghai, and a heavier dependence therefore on commercial sponsorships than ticket sales. Key backers of FIRST this year were phone maker Vivo and fashion house Chanel

The festival also operates a distinctive programming method. Instead of maintaining a year-round programming team to make selections, FIRST each year creates an ad hoc team fashioned from filmmakers, critics, industry professionals and even programmers from other festivals. That can lead to variable quality.

The unpredictable nature of the lineup may be among the reasons that the festival is little favored by some parts of the domestic Chinese press. “If there’s a good film, I win,” said one delegate who has attended several times, but requested anonymity. Others have told Variety that the chance of discovering a gem and getting ahead of the pack is precisely at the heart of FIRST’s appeal.

2024 FIRST International Film Festival Prizes

Feature films


Best Film Prize: Not awarded
Spirit of Freedom prize: “Chengzi_1,” dir. Fu Zongsheng
Best screenplay: Zhang Yudi for “The Midsummer’s Tale”
Best Artistic Originality: “The Small Village”
Best Actor: Huang Jingyi in “Fish Bone”
Grand Jury Prize: “Sailing Song of June”
Special mention: “The Dreamer in the Jungle”
Best director: Jiang Yuzhi for “Shards”
Best Documentary: “Unstoppable”

Short films


Best short animated short film: “Candy,” dir. Ying Xun
Best short film: “Extracurricular Activity”
Special mention: “Baozhda,” dir. Keran Abukasimu.

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