To bring attention to the sci-fi film genre, the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has launched its first-ever Sci-Film Week. The event featured a series of forums and activities, bringing
Guest speakers exchange ideas at the Sci-Film Week Keynote Forum held during the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) in Shanghai, June 11, 2023. [Photo courtesy of SIFF Organizing Committee]
This year, classic sci-fi films like "Death Ray on Coral Island," "Dislocation," and "Wonder Boy" were screened outdoors at the drive-in cinema located in Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden to cater to sci-fi movie fans. Additionally, new projects "The 749 Bureau," "Underground Deep Palace," "The Decisive Moment," "Molly," "The Boy Who Counted Cars," and "Survival Guide for Tomorrow" were promoted during the festival.
"The Wandering Earth" director Frant Gwo emphasized at the Sci-Film Week Keynote Forum that the greatest charm of sci-fi lies in the concepts of "the future" and "limitlessness."
"Sci-fi always represents the future. It plants seeds of love for science and the courage to imagine in the hearts of children, influencing generation after generation. Sci-fi is also a universal and popular language through which more overseas audiences can get to know and understand us. Therefore, sci-fi is an excellent medium," he said. Gwo advised that sci-fi filmmakers must not solely focus on "advanced concepts" and remember that the core of filmmaking lies in evoking emotions and resonating with the audience.
Director Lu Chuan, who is currently making his sci-fi film "The 749 Bureau," believes that sci-fi films are essentially serious because they confront human anxieties and fears about human development and the future world. "In a sense, the mission of science fiction films lies in a serious and sincere discussion and reflection on human development."
Peter Bebb, visual effects director for films like "Inception" and "The Dark Knight" trilogy, advised young sci-fi filmmakers to embrace existing technologies like machine learning and AI to achieve desired results. However, he stressed that the essence of films lies in storytelling, not technology, and new technologies cannot create movies without human input.
Wang Hongwei, deputy chairman of the China Film Directors' Guild, noted at a forum on "Future Engine: Prospects of Sci-Fi Film of the Year" that Chinese sci-fi films have grown and made breakthroughs in storytelling and aesthetics in recent years. He emphasized the need to integrate sci-fi with other film genres to provide creative space for directors and surprise audiences and called for more "practical attention" to the genre.
Ma Ping, deputy general manager of the State Production Base of China Film Group, stated that sci-fi films have played a crucial role in promoting film technology and techniques. He emphasized at the SIFF Sci-Fi Film Week's Film Technology Forum that hard science fiction films require a complete industrial system to support them, including digital assets and visual effects production, and such science fiction films also drive the process of film industrialization.
Participants pose for a group photo at the 5th Shanghai Sci-Fi Film and TV Industry Forum, June 12, 2023. [Photo courtesy of Shanghai Pudong Science Fiction Association]
At the Shanghai Sci-Fi Film and TV Industry Forum, which was part of SIFF's The Belt and Road Film Week, experts, business leaders, sci-tech professionals, and sci-fi writers such as Han Song, Xiao Xinghan, and Baoshu discussed the integration of sci-fi digital entertainment industry with metaverse film and television technology. They also examined artificial intelligence and trends in sci-fi films, literature, games, and other creative fields.
Gu Bei, head of the Shanghai Pudong Science Fiction Association and co-organizer of the forum, expressed optimism about the industry's future development. She hopes that the forum will provide domestic sci-fi film industry practitioners with a platform for exchanging ideas and showcasing their projects. The forum aims to gather more industry forces, embrace new elements of the times, and build a platform for industry-academia-research cooperation amidst rapid technological changes.
Zhang Chen, a veteran film producer who participated in the forum, told China.org.cn that the sci-fi genre is gaining more attention, and capital ventures are more willing to grant investments. Additionally, sci-fi writers have expressed inspiring opinions on AI development, while sci-fi can also inspire emerging industries such as AI education and the metaverse.
Local forces are in action, too. Alongside Shanghai Disneyland, the Shanghai International and Resorts Zone established the Shanghai Sci-Fi Film and TV Industry Base in 2021. It focuses on improving the gathering of the sci-fi industry around metaverse infrastructure, empowering sci-fi culture and the film and television industry with high technology. The base will establish a Chinese sci-fi film and TV technology talent data center and a digital copyright trading platform soon, and it will also explore the Pudong model for global competition through Chinese sci-fi film and TV post-production.
Gu Hanchun, secretary-general of the China Cultural Chamber of Commerce for the Private Sector, stated that the sci-fi industry is an industry with a high integration of culture and technology, and it is a comprehensive embodiment of a country's hard power in science and technology and soft power in culture. He firmly believes that with the efforts of all those involved in the sci-fi industry, Chinese sci-fi will have more vitality, and its rise is imminent.
