![Wang Xiaoxue talks to [CGTN]](https://i0.wp.com/usachinatrading.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Wang-Xiaoxue-talks-to-CGTN.jpg?resize=525%2C295&ssl=1)
The organizers of the Golden Rooster Awards, an esteemed Chinese film prize, have launched a sidebar event to showcase the creative works of young talents from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.
The Cross-Strait Youth Short Film Season last month brought together 10 up-and-coming filmmakers in Xiamen, Fujian Province, on the mainland’s southeastern coast for five days of creative brainstorming, artistic collaboration and meet-and-greets with peers and industry veterans.
The initiative, also called “New Wings Program,” was launched in late July with a short film competition that called on young directors from both sides of the Taiwan Strait to explore the theme of “Inheritance” in films running under 30 minutes. After three rounds of selection, 10 submissions were shortlisted and screened online. Finalists then took part in a training camp from November 23 to 27, which ran in parallel with the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards, and showcased their works to veteran filmmakers and distributors. “All 10 shortlisted works are extremely diverse, with different types and styles. They also focus on different topics,” said film producer Yang Cheng, who also mentored the filmmakers at the training camp. Some of the picks featured mature narratives or artistic styles, he told CGTN. Some were personal expressions; others experimental and exploratory stories. The shortlist included two titles by Taiwan directors, black-and-white feature “A Monk and His Mother” and the documentary “Team,” and mainland-Taiwan co-production “The North Fish” by Xiamen-born director Wang Xiaoxue, which depicts the twilight years of an army veteran from the Chinese mainland living in Taiwan who has survived the vicissitudes of life.
Wang spent four years at Fujian Normal University and got her master’s degree in filmmaking from Shih Hsin University in Taipei, where she finished her film. The whole crew was from Taiwan, and Wang said this brought richness to the production. “For artistic creation purposes, we all insisted on our originality and persisted [in making the film better],” she told CGTN. “After all, we are from the same clan with the same ancestry, and our culture is the same.” Yang, the film producer, expressed hope that more excellent works would be discovered in the future and that the event would “allow young creators on both sides of the Strait to understand each other better, and then work together.” “This sort of mutual communication and learning is the most precious aspect of our two sides,” Yu, the consultant, added. “We might have different ideas, but with the same roots and origins, these are all the voices of Chinese filmmakers.”
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