Lifestyle
The 33rd Golden Rooster Awards will bring hope for both the film industry and Xiamen
By Li Qing  ·  2020-11-10  ·   Source: Web Exclusive

The poster of the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards (COURTESY PHOTO)

China’s filmmaking elite are set to descend upon Xiamen this month when the nation’s most prestigious film awards, the Golden Rooster Awards, are held there from November 25 to 28. Now in their 33rd iteration, the awards will bring concerts, screenings, forums and other activities for filmmakers and film lovers to the coastal city, located in Fujian Province, southeast China.

The Golden Rooster Awards are a national event sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Film Association. The name of the awards came from the Chinese Zodiac, as the inaugural awards were held in 1981, the Year of the Rooster.

The occasion originally consisted of two events, the Golden Rooster Festival and a separate festival known as the Hundred Flowers Awards. The two festivals were combined into a single national film celebration in 1992 but separated again in 2005 and until now have taken place on alternate years. From this year onward, however, the Golden Rooster Awards will be held annually and, after historically moving from city to city, will now be held in Xiamen for the next 10 years.

At a press conference held in Beijing on November 7, Zhang Hong, Party Secretary of the China Film Association told reporters that award winners are determined through a rigorous democratic selection process using professional and academic evaluation criteria.

As a Chinese film industry award that is judged by experts, the Golden Rooster Awards have recognized the development and successes of Chinese film over the past 39 years, and will continue to support the future progress of the industry.

This year’s novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions have meant many major Chinese film events have been held without the usual red carpet fanfare, making the scheduled red carpet portion of this month’s Golden Rooster Awards a likely highlight of the event.

Li Huiyue, member of the Standing Committee of the Xiamen Municipal Party Committee and Minister of the Publicity Department, speaks at the press conference of the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards on November 7 in Beijing (COURTESY PHOTO)

While organizers have reduced the overall number of invitees to this year’s awards, Li Huiyue, member of the Standing Committee of the Xiamen Municipal Party Committee and Minister of the Publicity Department, said at the press conference that increasing the number of influential filmmakers invited to the event had ensured the event’s continued quality. Organizers also plan to introduce a range of new technologies to draw online participants to the awards. At the press conference, Li announced the use of technologies such as 5G and virtual reality to promote the awards’ online activities and to raise the overall influence of the awards. Li also told reporters poverty alleviation would be a major theme of the awards, in recognition of 2020 being the Chinese government’s deadline for eradicating absolute poverty in China.

Organizers also used the conference as an opportunity to unveil the official poster of the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards, as well as the long list of nominees. A total of 41 works were selected out of 155 entries to compete for 19 awards. Six high-quality films, including Better Days, Chaogtu with Sarula, Leap, Spring Tide, Sheep without A Shepherd, and My People, My Country will compete for the Best Picture award.

One Second, a feature film directed by Zhang Yimou, a winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, will make its debut and is set to open the film festival on November 25.

Since August 1, the Golden Rooster Awards Project Market, a conference on film innovation and investment, has accepted over 1000 projects, s setting a new record. The conference provides funds and other support to selected projects through fair and authoritative evaluation to encourage the production of new Chinese films.

The press conference of the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards on November 7 in Beijing (COURTESY PHOTO)

“The Golden Rooster Awards can stimulate social vitality under the normal epidemic prevention and control measures,” Li said. “In addition to a promoting the development of Chinese films the Golden Rooster Awards are also a driving force for Xiamen to grow into a film city.”

Thanks to its excellent environment and beautiful scenery, Xiamen has become the shooting site for many TV dramas and films, drawing more film industry infrastructure and resources to the city. For instance, companies related to film and TV dramas began to settle in Xiamen, and there have been over 330 new enterprises and 131 projects in Xiamen from January to September this year, with a total investment of over 6.3 billion yuan ($958.9 million).

To better serve the industry, Xiamen Municipal Government has increased investment in the cultural sector and encouraged local universities to set up relevant modules to cultivate related talents.

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