【雲上嶺南】From Lingnan Towns to Paris, the Maritime Guangdong Program Short Films are Ready for Their Debut

山海走进法国 共赏岭南风华

From December 19th to 23rd, the "2024 Maritime Guangdong Young Director Support Program" (hereinafter referred to as the Maritime Guangdong Program), hosted by the Yangcheng Evening News Group, will make its debut into Paris, France, bringing 14 Chinese short films supported by the Maritime Guangdong Program to meet overseas audiences.

Since its inception in 2023, the Maritime Guangdong Program has successfully held two editions. The program aims to discover, incubate, select, and train outstanding Chinese young directors worldwide, encouraging them to explore various types of short film creation and tell Chinese stories from diverse perspectives.

In the first edition of the Maritime Guangdong Program, 11 excellent young directors with an average age of 26 received funding to produce 10 short films themed around Lingnan culture. These films have garnered widespread attention and acclaim both at home and abroad."How Can I Rid My Mind of Her" was selected for the 46th Moscow International Film Festival and the 19th Sapporo International Short Film Festival; "Swimming Lesson" was selected for the 41st Tehran International Short Film Festival; "Swimming Lesson" and "Migratory Bird" won the New Sharp Short Film Award and the Special Focus Short Film Award, respectively, at the 5th Golden Rooster Cross-Strait Youth Short Film Festival and Hong Kong & Macao Youth Short Film Season: New Gulfstream Program.

The second edition of the Maritime Guangdong Program launched in April this year, themed "Backflow," inviting young directors to create films using contemporary small towns in theGuangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as visual landmarks, telling small town stories from a more contemporary perspective. After eight months of selection, review, training, and filming, nine short films have been completed and will premiere in Paris. These films not only continue the humanistic care of the first edition but also demonstrate greater maturity in subject matter and technique.

This yearmarks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and the Maritime Guangdong Program will visit the birthplace of the new waveof movies—France. From December 19th to 23rd, six exciting events will unfold across Paris. Among them, 14 Maritime Guangdong Program short films will be screened in three sessions at the renowned art cinema Les 3 Luxembourg in the Latin Quarter of Paris, under the themes "The Flâneur," "Go Like the Wind," and "Dreams in Lingnan," showcasing the new spirit of Chinese youth film creation to French audiences. The special screening unit "Fluctuat nec mergitur"(Waves That Do Not Sink) will be supported by the French Chaozhou Association, bringing four films themed around overseas Chinese to Parisian Chinese compatriots. The roundtable forum " I'm Rooted But I Flow" will be held at the Parisian cultural landmark FORUM DES IMAGES, dedicated to promoting Sino-French film cultural exchanges and inviting emerging Chinese and French filmmakers for a dialogue.

The FORUM DES IMAGES will also present a surprise screening segment of the event, bringing the classic work "Mountains May Depart" (2015) by renowned Chinese director Jia Zhangke, which was selected for the main competition unit at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, to French audiences. The film, starring Zhao Tao, Zhang Yi, Dong Zijian, and Zhang Aijia, spans from 1999 to 2014 and even to 2025, with settings ranging from the northern Chinese small town of Fenyang to Australia. Creatively, it continues Jia Zhangke's concern for individual lives amidst changing times, focusing on the fate and inner emotions of Chinese people migrating and scattering under the backdrop of globalization. Jia Zhangke is one of the most familiar Chinese directors to French audiences, and his new film "Caught by the Tides" will be released in France on January 8th, 2025.

Over the past two years, the Maritime Guangdong Program has held film screenings and exchange activities in places like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Sapporo, Japan, committed to telling the real and multi-dimensional story of China through images and building a stage for Chinese youth filmmakers to dialogue with the world. At the end of the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, the Maritime Guangdong Program will present a rich array of Chinese film screenings and cultural exchange activities in Paris, promoting friendly exchanges between the two countries' peoples, hoping that the friendship between the two places will extend through cinema, deeply rooted and surging like waves.

▲Reservation：https://www.eventbrite.fr/o/maritime-guangdong-104396377781

12月19日至23日，由羊城晚报报业集团主办的“向山海走去”青年导演创作扶持计划（以下简称山海计划）将首次走进法国巴黎，携14部由山海计划扶持创作的华语青年短片，正式与海外观众见面。

自2023年起，山海计划已成功举办两届。本计划旨在挖掘、孵化、选拔和培养全球范围内的优秀华人青年导演，鼓励他们探索不同类型的短片创作，以多元视角讲述中国故事。

首届山海计划中，11位平均年龄26岁的优秀青年导演获得了创作资金支持，拍摄了10部以岭南文化为主题的短片。这批短片在海内外获得广泛关注和好评：《海水泡的茶是什么味道》入围第46届莫斯科国际电影节和第19届札幌国际短片电影节；《游泳课》入围第41届德黑兰国际短片电影节；《游泳课》《家庭旅行》在第五届金鸡海峡两岸暨港澳青年短片季新湾流计划中分别斩获新锐短片奖和特别关注短片奖。

第二届山海计划于今年4月启动，以“回到小镇”为主题，邀请青年导演以大湾区当代小镇为影像地标进行创作，以更当下的视角讲述小镇故事。经历了八个月的选拔、评审、培训和拍摄，9部短片已新鲜出炉，并将在巴黎首次放映。这批短片不仅延续了首届作品的人文关怀，在题材和手法上亦更加成熟。

今年，值中法建交60周年，山海计划将走进新浪潮电影的发轫之地——法国。12月19日至23日期间，6场精彩活动将在巴黎城中陆续上演，其中，14部山海计划短片将以“异乡游荡者”“像少年飞驰”“南国一梦”为主题分3场次在巴黎拉丁区知名艺术影院LES 3 LUXEMBOURG举行放映，为法国观众展示中国青年电影创作的新气象；“浪击而不沉”特别放映单元将由法国潮州会馆提供支持，为巴黎华裔同胞带来4部海外华人题材的影片放映；“如根深种，如浪翻涌”圆桌论坛将在巴黎文化地标巴黎影像论坛FORUM DES IMAGES举办，致力于促进中法电影文化交流，将邀请中法新生代电影人进行对谈。

巴黎影像论坛FORUM DES IMAGES还将呈现本次活动的惊喜放映单元，为法国观众带来中国著名导演贾樟柯入围第68届戛纳主竞赛单元的经典作品《山河故人》（2015）。该片由赵涛、张译、董子健、张艾嘉主演，剧情跨度时间从1999年到2014年直至2025年，空间场景则从中国北方小城汾阳到澳大利亚，创作上延续了贾樟柯对时代变革中个体生命的关怀，关注中国人在全球化背景下迁移流散的命运和内心情感。贾樟柯是法国观众最为熟悉的中国导演之一，他的新片《风流一代》将于2025年1月8日在法国公映。

过去两年里，山海计划已在马来西亚吉隆坡、日本札幌等地举办电影放映和交流活动，致力于用影像讲述真实立体的中国，并为中国青年电影人搭建与世界对话的舞台。在中法文化旅游年的尾声，山海计划将在巴黎以丰富多彩的华语电影展映和文化交流活动，推动两国民间友好往来，愿两地情谊因电影而延伸，如根深种，如浪翻涌。

来源：羊城晚报