The Shanghai International Film Festival announced dates and details on Tuesday for its upcoming 25th edition, the first version of the event to be easily accessible to the international film industry since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020.
Widely regarded as China’s most prestigious cinema event, the 2023 edition of the Shanghai Festival will take place from June 9 to 18, according to organizers. The festival’s main competition, which awards the event’s signature Golden Goblet awards, includes five main categories this year: a feature film competition, Asian newcomers, documentaries, animation and short films.
The 2022 Shanghai Festival was canceled due to the city’s month-long COVID-19 lockdown and the government’s strict travel restrictions at the time. For the previous two years, the festival had been held on or around its normal summer dates, but the event became an almost entirely domestic Chinese affair, as flights to and from China were hard to come by at the time and all travelers had to travel. endure prolonged hotel quarantine and regular COVID-19 testing at their own expense.
For the 2023 edition, organizers said they have received nearly 8,800 film entries to choose from, spanning more than 128 countries and regions. About 4,500 of the films were actually submitted for the canceled 2022 edition, but organizers said the entries will remain valid for this year’s festival should the films be selected and the filmmakers prefer to participate.
However, international movie stars returning to Shanghai will notice some changes in the event. In January, the organizers of the Shanghai International Film Market, which is co-locating with the festival, announced that it would be moving to the Longemont Hotel, less than a mile from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in western Shanghai, where the film festival took place. centered for many years. In recent years, the market has been held in a convention center in the center of the city. The new location makes it much easier for visitors to get back and forth from both parts of the event.
The film selection of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival is expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.
