While the big names of film-making vie for top honors at the Cannes Film Festival, several workshops for young directors and producers are also in full swing. And a Chinese director is leading the way.
The 'Cinemas du Monde' workshop, sponsored by by France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, appoints a high-caliber filmmaker to nurture the next generation of talent. This year, it's Jia Zhangke, the Chinese director of 'Mountains May Depart'.
"It's a training project open to directors around the world. In its one-week agenda during Cannes Film Festival, 10 young directors are selected to get one-on-one instruction from a tutor. I have already read all of the 10 scripts and made some notes, and tomorrow, it's time for communications," Jia said.
The 'Cinemas du Monde' workshop, sponsored by by France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, appoints a high-caliber filmmaker to nurture the next generation of talent. This year, it's Jia Zhangke, the Chinese director of 'Mountains May Depart'.
Since its inception in 2012, the 'Cinemas du Monde' program has funded 10 debut films crafted during the workshop.
Meanwhile, the 'Producers Workshop' operates a parallel program.
"The producer should be the one who builds a favorable working vibe for the creative team, and who enables the movie to be produced and be seen by more people," said Xiao Qiancao, participant/Producers Workshop.
Xiao Qiancao is one of five young talents sent by the China Film Foundation to this edition of Producers Workshop. He comes to Cannes with his first producing project, 'The Storm Looming'.
But he's not exactly a stranger to the movie business.
"The first film I was a part of is 'Black Coal, Thin Ice', which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2014. That experience helped a lot to shape my attitude and vision for filmmaking," Xiao said.
Xiao has enjoyed championing first-time directors. He went on to serve as Executive Producer on the film, 'Forever Young', directed by He Jiong, a high-profile Chinese TV anchor. And now he is in command of 'The Storm Looming', a directorial debut for Dong Yue.
But Xiao says he still has much to learn.
"In today’s film industry, everyone is telling a story featuring their land, their countries, and their people, and they're worth hearing. But that generates a lot of peer pressure. So how to make our films stand out in such a context, it's really a big challenge," Xiao said.
