Feature: Toronto film festival sheds more light on Chinese cinema

Chinese filmmakers once again come under spotlight at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) as the annual event kicked off its 40th edition on Thursday.

Festival fever officially descended upon the Canadian metropolis when Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts graced the red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall for the world premiere of "Demolition," a much-anticipated feature from Oscar-nominated Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee.

A total of 13 Chinese films are scheduled for screening during the 11-day festival, which will line up about 400 films from over 70 countries and regions this year. Among them are "Mountains May Depart" by Jia Zhangke, "Office" by Johnnie To, "Paths of the Soul" by Zhang Yang, "The Promised Land" by He Ping.

Giovanna Fulvi, TIFF programmer for East Asia, believes that the new work by Zhang Yang shot in Tibet is "a very special film" and The Promised Land "a very interesting subject matter."

"Chinese films are unique and powerful with immense culture, and it's a driving force to China's economy, a vital film industry," Fulvi told Xinhua. "Audience in the West have more and more interest and I believe more Chinese films will import to North America."

For nearly two decades, the Toronto film festival has developed a fondness for Chinese films. "Zhang Yang's Shower was discovered here in 1999, and all the years we have been following the works of major Chinese directors," Fulvi said.

In 2013, a TIFF retrospective "A Century of Chinese Cinema" showcased more than 80 films, turning into a Chinese film sensation in North America.

"We were very surprised in the beginning that Chinese movies took leadership here when we did the 100 years of Chinese cinema, which was a fabulous piece of work," said William Marshall, one of the founders of the film festival.

"I think it really impressed people that a whole world they didn't know," Marshall said. "To me the important thing about Chinese new cinema is to stop doing the basic tables, like the red lantern story, and start doing new story about new modern Chinese thoughts."

As the film festival tries to go back to its Canadian roots at the age of 40, it also makes its way for new creations. For the first time, a new competitive program Platform was launched this year to champion artistic films from around the world.

The new section was named after a movie by Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke, and Jia will lead the inaugural jury. "The Promised Land" is among the 12 films to run for the Platform jury prize, which will be announced at the closing ceremony of the film festival on Sept. 20.

Meanwhile for a fourth year in a row, TIFF's Asia Film Summit will highlight Chinese filmmaking industry once again. Jia and producer Yu Dong with Bona Film Group are to lecture an intrigued audience in Toronto.

Savine Wong, TIFF programmer for Asian Film Summit, hopes these interactions will help international directors and companies working in China and working with China.

"Obviously all the activities are going in the Chinese market, the box office growing so greatly and there are so much interest," said Wong. "But people still need to understand how to work with China, how to find good partners, how to build relations."

As two-way collaborations, Beijing International Film Festival will present a "Beijing Night" promotion event on Friday and a "Chinese Film Night" will help celebrate the Chinese cinema on Sept. 16. Endi