ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival Opens
- Attendance by actress Cheng Peipei
- New voices in Chinese queer cinema
The inaugural ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival (ShPFF) successfully launched its Opening Night at The Pearl, one of the city’s most historical theaters, featuring the first public screening of Lilting (Hong Khaou, 2014) in China. The events of the day were attended by an immensely diverse crowd. In the audience were also representatives of the Festival’s sponsors (Zank, everman, and yuejunyou.com) and the British Consulate-General Shanghai, which supported the Opening Night.
The evening‘s highlight was actress Cheng Pei Pei , who attended the screening for a Q&A session and presented the Best Film Award to the winner of our short film competition. Cheng Pei Pei is the main actress of Lilting, alongside Ben Whishaw. During the Q&A, when asked about the theme of the work, Cheng Pei Pei expressed that Lilting had transcend the mere discussion of sexuality and self-identity, but rather touched the core of all barriers among people, which is a lack of communication and the refusal to accept love. The response largely resonated with ShanghaiPRIDE’s theme for the year: Love is Our Future.
The opening night started with a warm-up by showing this year’s Best Film Award winning short film, A Straight Journey: Days and Nights in Their Kingdom. ShPFF is absolutely thrilled to present some of the strongest voices of emerging Chinese filmmakers of queer cinema through its screening of various short films during the festival. The film will be sent to represent Shanghai and compete in this year’s Iris Prize in UK.
The evening then continued into the festival’s opening film. Lilting sets the tone for a program of 31 films from China and around the world, screening over the next 10 days of the festival at venues around Shanghai. All screenings are free and open to all.
The Opening Night Party kicked off after the screening, featuring DJ Mau Mau, a staple of Shanghai party scene. The event was attended by filmmakers and industry professionals, helping to establish ShPFF as an important new platform for queer cinema in China.
More than 150 people attended the opening. Electro house beats filled the 1930s vintage theatre to celebrate the opening of a whole week of queer cinematic delights.
A list of this year’s awarding winning films chosen by an eclectic panel of industry professionals can be found below:
Best Film Award: A Straight Journey: Days and Nights in their Kingdom
Best Cinematography Award: Clay of Indigo
Best Screenplay Award: X-Love
Best Sound & Music Award: Clay of Indigo
Queer Vision Award: A Straight Journey: Days and Nights in Their Kingdom
As a part of ShanghaiPRIDE, ShPFF will continue until June 21st, featuring a number of film screening, talks, and workshops. The digital program and more information are available at shpride.com/films
