World renowned film stars gather at the closing ceremony of the 1st Hainan International Film Festival in Sanya on Dec 16. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]
Attracting a number of celebrities, including Jackie Chan and Johnny Depp, the 1st Hainan International Film Festival drew to an end in the tropical city of Sanya on Dec 16.
Around 100 top filmmakers and stars, including Juliette Binoche, Aamir Khan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Mads Mikkelsen and Emma Dumont, appeared on the red carpet during the closing ceremony on Monday night.
Chinese stars who appeared in the city recently, known to Western audiences for the The Meg, include Aaron Kwok, Xu Zheng, Yao Chen, Leehom Wang, Zhao Wei, Alec Su and Kara Wai.
One event during the festival honored domestic films and filmmakers with a selection system similar to the Oscars. The nominated films were shortlisted from hundreds of films released from Jan 1 to Oct 31 in the Chinese mainland. They were selected by around 500 members of the China Film Critics Society.
Social drama Dying to Survive went home with three honors – best feature, director and actor – making it the biggest winner of the festival.
Wen Muye (L) and Xu Zheng (L2) receive awards for best director and actor for the social drama Dying to Survive. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]
Xu Zheng and Aaron Kwok shared the best actor honor (It cannot be called an award, according to the festival's organizers) for Dying to Survive and Project Gutenberg.
Yao Chen nabbed best actress for the suspense film Lost, Found, while Du Jiang won best supporting actor for the Chinese navy movie Operation Red Sea.
The best new actor honor went to Yungdrung Gyal for the Tibetan film Ala Changso, and Dong Yue won the best new director honor for his directorial debut The Looming Storm, a crime thriller that examines the complexity of humanity.
Maverick filmmaker Jiang Wen, alongside He Jiping, Li Fei and Sun Yue, co-won the best script honor for the martial arts film Hidden Man set in the 1930s.
The Wind Guardians, an animated film about a blind youngster saving the world, took home the best animated film honor.
The festival, which ran from Dec 11 to 16, held a series of events and forums to discuss the future of the Chinese film industry. Some well-known faces, including Depp, Binoche, Khan, Ceylan and French actress Isabelle Huppert, held classes to share their secrets to success.
The festival screened more than 100 films from over 30 countries and regions from Dec 10 to 17. Organizers said that they hope to make such screenings a regular occurrence to allow locals and tourists to enjoy a diverse array of films throughout the year.
Statistics from local authorities shows that six films and TV series were shot in Haikou, the capital of Hainan, in the first half of 2018, and 114 companies specializing in film, television and animation have set up offices in Hainan.
A dance performance at the closing ceremony of the 1st Hainan International Film Festival in Sanya on Dec 16 [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]
Overview
Haikou 
Sanya 
