Silk Road Film Festival to showcase industrial development

The 13th Silk Road International Film Festival will be held in Xi'an from Sept 19 to 23. Focusing on achievements in film development in China and abroad, it will facilitate exchanges and cooperation in the film industry.

Founded in 2014, the Silk Road International Film Festival is an international cultural exchange event under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. Since the global call for films for this edition was launched in May, a total of 2,130 entries from 139 countries and regions have been received, marking a record-high coverage.

The festival will feature the exchange and promotion of outstanding Silk Road films, the unveiling of a Silk Road film international exchange and trade center, the launch of an online Silk Road film copyright trading platform, and strategic cooperation signing ceremonies. A film trade market and a special cultural and creative market will invite domestic and overseas exhibitors from Turkiye, Hungary, Spain, and other countries to interact and exchange ideas on film and television projects, international co-productions, and film-themed cultural creations.

Over 400 films will be screened during the festival. Four screening platforms will be available: cinema, online, outdoor, and campus screenings. Specifically, 150 films will be screened in cinemas across nearly 300 sessions, while the online screening will present 130 films, reaching around 16 million users across Shaanxi province.

For outdoor screenings, 111 viewing sites will be set up province-wide, including nine key squares in Xi'an and 102 grassroots sites in other cities. Campus screenings will take place at 15 schools, showing intangible cultural heritage documentaries to allow students to experience traditional culture up close.

The festival has selected 40 films for 80 special public welfare screenings priced at 9.9 yuan ($1.47). Tiered ticket fares ranging from 20 yuan to 40 yuan apply to Chinese-language, foreign-language, 4K, and IMAX films. Pre-screening expert introductions and post-screening Q&A sessions with filmmakers will further enhance the viewing experience.