Piaget, Jaeger- LeCoultre, Dior Honor Chinese Filmmakers During SIFF
● The return of SIFF to its physical format signaled the gradual recovery of China's film industry battered by COVID-19.
SHANGHAI — As the largest film festival in Asia and China's only competitive feature film festival, SIFF returned to its physical format after being canceled, postponed or hosted virtually during the three-year COVID-19 crisis.
This year the 25th SIFF returned in full swing with a lineup of screenings, film culture roundtables and the prestigious Golden Goblet Award, which will reveal its winners on Saturday.
Celebrities including Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun Fat, Shu Qi, Jason Statham and Brian Cox walked the red carpet before their films made their China debut during the festival.
During the past few years, the film industry took a brutal hit from the pandemic as cinema closures, film production delays, and a funding freeze cast a gloomy outlook.
Post-reopening, as the government looks to revive consumption and promote local titles, the industry is expected to recover to 70 percent of 2019 levels, according to estimates from local ticketing platforms.
Action-packed thrillers or sci-fi titles will likely drive box office sales this summer. Among the tentpole films to be released in China are "The Meg 2: The Trench," starring Jason Statham and Wu Jing, sci-fi fantasy drama "Creations of the Gods," starring the half-Chinese, half-American pop icon Fei Xiang, and "Flowers From the Ashes," a period rom-com directed by "Farewell My Concubine" creator Chen Kaige.
To fete the industry's grand return, Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Dior all rolled out the red carpet to celebrate this year's biggest stars.
As SIFF's official partner since 2021, Piaget hosted the "Extraordinary Night Party" by the Bund, where it honored local filmmakers, masters and celebrities, including Italian actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Chinese actresses Shengyi Huang, American actor Andy Friend and Chinese director Hou Yong.
"The filmmaking industry is definitely a way to express craftsmanship and to express emotions, and we're all about emotions at Piaget," said Sonia Carpentier, managing director of Piaget China.
As for the party, it was a celebration of the brand's "extravagance, elegance," as well as "the crazy parties and the jet-set lifestyle," Carpentier said.
In collaboration with SIFF, Piaget also launched the inaugural "SIFF Young" Program, which includes master classes at the esteemed Shanghai Theatre Academy and the "To-The-Extraordinary" Scholarship, aimed at supporting young film students at local universities.
"We want to help young filmmakers go further in their dreams and lives," Carpentier said.
At the other end of the Bund, JaegerLeCoultre, an official SIFF partner for more than 10 years, launched the latest installment of its "Made of Makers" program.
Against a giant screen of falling water, which echoed the natural beauty of the Swiss watchmaker's home turf at Vallée de Joux in Switzerland, British musician Tokio Myers' original score for "The Reverso Musical Show" made its global debut at Fosun Foundation.
On Sunday, Jaeger-LeCoultre hosted a screening of the 4K restored version of the classic Chinese film "Early Spring." Since launching the conservation project with SIFF 12 years ago, the film is the 16th Chinese film to be restored under the program.
"This is something to be admired and respected," said Chinese actress and JaegerLeCoultre global brand ambassador Ni Ni at the premiere. "It brings the film back to its original temperature and makes it more authentic."
To highlight female filmmakers, Dior cohosted the panel "Action! Her Time
— Life Without Limits" with SIFF, where director Ho-Sun Chan, actress Zhang Ziyi, actress and film producer Vivian Junmei Wu-Costo discussed the creative process and female representation in films.
Chan revealed during the talk that he is about to start working with Zhang on a true crime thriller titled "Murder of the Husband," set in '40s Shanghai.
As the festival's official partner and designated beauty brand, Dior also unveiled the exhibition "Dior In Red" at the storied Victory Cinema.
The exhibition, which highlights the Rouge Dior collection and the brand's history with the film industry, features Dior's red-themed gowns and accessories throughout the brand's history. Another room was dedicated to a virtual try-on experience for the lipstick collection.