The Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, a shining spectacle of art and culture, took flight yesterday at the Minnan Grand Theater in Xiamen, Fujian Province, as the opening ceremony of the 2025 edition was held. Deputy Party Secretary and Governor of the province, Zhao Long, attended and declared the festival open. Gao Shiming, member of the Party Leadership Group of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, vice chairman, and secretary of the Secretariat, along with Cui Yonghui, member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Party Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, delivered speeches respectively.
Zhang Yan, member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, Liu Heng, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Wu Bin, deputy mayor of the Municipal Party Committee and mayor, Qin Zhengui, deputy director of the Film Bureau of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Center for Film Script Planning and Development, Deng Guanghui, secretary of the Party Committee of the China Film Association and resident vice chairman, Zhang Pimin, chairman of the China Film Foundation, Ming Zhenjiang, honorary chairman of the China Film Producers Association, and municipal leaders Guo Guoyun, Wu Xinkui, Zheng Yuelin, Lin Zhicheng, and Wu Jinxin, together with representatives of film workers, witnessed the opening of the film festival.
Gao Shiming stated that in July this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping wrote back to eight film artists including Tian Hua, fully affirming the significant contributions made by Chinese filmmakers to the socialist cause and pointing out the direction for the construction of a strong film country in China. Looking back at the long scroll of light and shadow in the past two decades, Chinese filmmakers have always had a strong sense of patriotism, resonated with the times, shared joys and sorrows with the people, expounded the spiritual world of the Chinese people, told the stories of China in the new era, actively explored the Eastern aesthetics of film art, achieved brilliant achievements, and countless film classics have become the collective memory of several generations of Chinese people. Movies are a kind of realistic image, and also a kind of visual reality. We should fully understand the significance of watching movies and the value of making movies in the context of rapid and iterative development of science and technology. We should continue to work together to make the Golden Rooster Award better and better, and make Chinese movies more brilliant in the new era and in the world context.
Cui Yonghui, on behalf of the Municipal Party Committee and Government, warmly congratulated the opening of the film festival. He said that currently, Xiamen is keeping in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions, firmly shouldering its mission and responsibility, working together with the "Golden Rooster Award" to accelerate the development of the film and television industry, vigorously promote the prosperity of cultural undertakings, and take practical actions to promote the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to take root and bear fruit. This year marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of Chinese cinema. In 1905, films were first screened on Gulangyu Island, sowing the first seeds of cinema in Xiamen. 120 years of forging ahead, 120 years of embarking on a new journey. We believe that Xiamen and the "Golden Rooster" will move forward hand in hand, further stirring up the power of ideas, colliding sparks of art, and writing more and more wonderful chapters of the era of film and urban integration and progress, contributing greater strength to the high-quality development of Chinese film and the construction of a cultural power.
The opening ceremony pays tribute to the glorious 120 year history of Chinese cinema through themed short films, storytelling by filmmakers, and a medley of movie songs. The event was skillfully integrated with local elements to show the deep "city shadow relationship" between Xiamen and the Golden Rooster Award.
This year's film festival will last until November 15, and will hold the commendation ceremony for the nominees of the 38th China Film Golden Rooster Award, the 38th China Film Golden Rooster Award Award Ceremony, Golden Rooster Film Festival, Golden Rooster Film Venture Capital Conference, Golden Rooster Film Forum, Golden Rooster Film Market and other activities.
