Jury Weighs in on Moviemaking

Along with a red-carpet opening ceremony, a press conference with the members of the main competition jury is a staple event of major film festivals and the 26th edition of the Shanghai International Film Festival kicked off in traditional form on Friday.

Along with Vietnam-French director Tran Anh Hung, previously revealed as jury president, the other members of the decisive committee this year are: Australian director and screenwriter Rolf de Heer; German director Matthias Glasner; Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka Fai; Argentinian director Santiago Mitre; Chinese director Sonthar Gyal; and, the jury’s only woman, star actor Zhou Xun.

A packed audience lobbed familiar questions about the criteria they jurors would employ to decide the Golden Goblet prize winners, and what informs those views.

Tran, who is based largely in France, rejected the idea of an East-West clash of sensibilities. “Film is its own language, and I try to communicate with you in this language. Although I am Asian, I am a filmmaker, and I will not be different from other people in this respect. We live in the same world, and we have the same path to contact different cultures and countries,” he said.

De Heer emphasized the notion that each film is a prototype. “Making films is actually a very difficult thing to do, and each film is a rejection of the previous one, or an attempt to be different. It’s not really worth it to present the same style in every…