BJIFF Project Pitches selects best projects from young filmmakers

Winners of the Beijing International Film Festival's (BJIFF) Beijing Film Market Project Pitches were announced on April 21, with top projects receiving funding and resources to support their development. 

Winners and jurors pose for a group photo at the honor ceremony of The Beijing Film Market's Project Pitches held in Beijing, April 21, 2025. [Photo courtesy of BJIFF Organizing Committee]

The initiative, a central part of the festival's efforts to nurture emerging talent and strengthen the Chinese film industry, selected standout proposals after a competitive evaluation. Organizers said the awards are intended to help promising filmmakers advance their projects and contribute to the industry's future growth.

"This is my first time participating in the Project Pitches, which has been truly rewarding," said filmmaker Chen Sicheng, president of the final jury for this section at the awards ceremony. He went onto say, "To compete with other entertainment options for audience attention, films must fully unleash their imaginative power. Young creators should break free from conventional patterns and produce vibrant, youthful, and energetic works."

The final jury, consisting of Chen, filmmakers Dong Runnian, Rao Xiaozhi, Jojo Hui, and actor Zhang Zifeng, selected ten awards for the most promising projects. This year, the Project Pitches received 507 submissions across the comedy, drama, thriller, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, animation, and musical genres. 

Public pitch sessions took place on April 19 and 20. Ten shortlisted script-based projects, six WIP (work-in-progress) titles, two entries from the Beijing International Sports Film Week and three recommended by the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum were all presented.

Among the script-based projects, Huang Aiyi's "The Washing Machines' Guide to the Supreme" won both the Jury Special Recommendation Project and the As One Production Special Focus Project, receiving a total award of 450,000 yuan. The sci-fi story tells of a suicidal woman who is drafted by aliens into a cosmic survival game. Rejecting both personal salvation and humanity's future, she vanishes into the void to find a new purpose.

Han Jinliang's "Call Australia Home" received the Best Original Script Project award, along with 100,000 yuan in prize money. His story tells of an infertile man who, with his wife, schemes to conceive with a stranger for Australian immigration purposes, now facing court and a moral crisis as his family collapses.

Tang Yan's "Whispers in Parallel," tells two women in two timelines who draw strength from one another's stories to rewrite their fates and pursue freedom and dreams, and it won the Project with Greatest Commercial Potential, also receiving 100,000 yuan. Li Xuan's "Love Talks, Wheels Roll," about a woman claiming to be the model for China's banknote tractor driver decides to get driver's license at 60, won the David Yates Award for the Project with Greatest Development Potential, along with $10,000. 

Zhao Yan's "Moneys Pole Dance" about displaced workers in China's rust belt spark a "Northeast Cultural Renaissance" through pole dancing, received 50,000 yuan from the Beijing International Sports Film Week Sports Film Project Support Fund.

For the WIP projects, Li Jing's "Name and Hair" about a young woman tries to change her name, but family resistance, bureaucratic hurdles, and unresolved emotions complicate her journey until a strange boy appears unexpectedly, won the Project with the Most Investment Value. Tibetan director Tashi Gyatso's "Wind" about an ordinary family's confusion and sorrow in the face of this rapidly developing era won the Most Innovative Production Team. Each received 500,000 yuan in funding for post-production services. 

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) continues its partnership with the BJIFF pitching competition, presenting two MPA awards to standout projects. "Call Australia Home" received the MPA Most Promising New Filmmaker Award, and Fan Jiajun's crime thriller "Something in the Way" earned the MPA Best Pitching Competition Award. This year's recipients will join winners from other Asia-Pacific MPA film workshops for a one-week study tour in Hollywood, gaining firsthand experience in professional filmmaking.

Other shortlisted film projects and filmmakers had the chance to communicate with jurors at the final roadshow, and it was here they gained tailored advice from the jurors, along with pledges of future support in other forms.

Filmmaker Chen Sicheng speaks at the honor ceremony for The Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) Beijing Film Market's Project Pitches held in Beijing, April 21, 2025. [Photo courtesy of BJIFF Organizing Committee]

Chen Sicheng offered the following words to all those in attendance, "There are very young creators whose scripts may not be ready for production yet, but from their words, we can clearly sense their creative potential. They have a bright future in creation, and this is very important for our entire Project Pitches and the discovery of new talent. We will provide them with better platforms."

To extend his support and find new talent, Chen, the filmmaker behind the box office juggernaut franchise, "Detective Chinatown," also went onto announce a program to seek fresh and excellent scripts.

This offers those who apply six themes to choose from: "The Person Who Lost Their Name," "The Crime Scene," "The Secret of the Family," "By a Twist of Fate," "My Alien Friend," and "I Love You."

The deadline is May 20 and winners will be announced on July 30. The prize pool totals 500,000 yuan, with 200,000 yuan for the top award with a further 50,000 yuan for each of the remaining winners in smaller categories.