Photo: VCG

A cultural bridge between ­China and the world in the movie industry, the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival is set to kick off in early June after a one-year delay.

Lifting its curtains with an opening ceremony on June 9, the festival will be held for 10 days and end on June 18. 

A total of five sections ­covering feature documentaries to animated and short films will be included at the festival.

In the few months since applications for the festival's Golden Goblet Awards opened at the end of 2022, the festival has received nearly 8,800 works from 128 countries and regions around the world. 

In 2013, China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to enhance policy, infrastructure, trade, financing as well as people-to-people exchanges. 

As 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the joint establishment of the BRI, the Shanghai International Film Festival will launch a BRI film week to highlight countries involved in the BRI.

The festival will also provide opportunities for young directors and scriptwriters to encourage them to create without limits. The festival has launched a competition for young artists, who will be given the chance to attend a film training camp by submitting a short film with a runtime of five minutes or less. Those who are selected for the camp will undergo short-term training to learn groundwork as a filmmaker and spark their creativity.

This training camp has received more than 830 applications from students majoring in production, directing and screenwriting, and the final shortlist will be announced during the film festival.

A least 10 forums will be held on topics including international cooperation, innovation in movie education, integration of technology and movies, and science fiction movies as well.

The technology of the Metaverse will also make a showing at the festival to provide an immersive experience for all moviegoers.