“I am full of expectation for the films to be shown” Cristian Mungiu Chairs Jury for 2017 SIFF Award
The Organization Committee of 2017 Shanghai International Film Festival announced on March 24 that the famous Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, who was awarded the Palme d’Or in Cannes with his feature 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, will be the chairman of the jury for the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival’s Golden Goblet Awards.
As a non-specialized competitive international film festival recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, Shanghai International Film Festival has been building a professional and authoritative cultural exchange platform for foreign and domestic films, attracting a large number of outstanding filmmakers from home and abroad every year, and has already become a well-established brand. In recent years, film artists that have chaired the jury of SIFF awards include Gong Li, Wong Karwai, Tom Hooper, Jean-Jacques Arnaud, John Woo, Danny Boyle, Luc Besson, Andrei Zvyagintsev, and Emir Custurica. For this year, the Romanian new wave master Cristian Mungiu will join the jury for SIFF awards, taking the helm for the main competition unit.
Before becoming a film director, Cristian Mungiu worked as a journalist and teacher. Although he officially entered the film industry in his 30’s, he quickly demonstrated his outstanding talent with his hard work and efforts, and the films he directed have attracted extensive attention.
For Cristian Mungiu, Cannes is undoubtedly a place of blessing for his film career. In 2002, his film debut Occident/West was premiered in Cannes, and he won the Palme d’Or for his 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days in 2007. After that, his Beyond the Hills was double awarded for the Best Screenplay and Best Actress. With Bacalaureat/Graduation, he was awarded for the Best Director in 2016. He was in the jury of Cannes Film Festival in 2013. Recently, Cannes Film Festival announced that he will head the short film unit jury for the Film Fund Awards of the 70th Cannes Film Festival to be held in May this year.
As the leading filmmaker in “Romanian New Wave”, Cristian Mungiu is good at using the camera language to tell stories; moreover, the themes of his films are all closely related to the post-socialist reality of Romania. Speaking of being invited to be the jury chairman for Shanghai International Film Festival, Cristian Mungiu said, “I have tremendous respect for Asian films, so I am very honored to be invited to join the jury of Shanghai International Film Festival. While full of expectation for the films to be shown, I do understand, what enjoys more values than the awards is that, the film festival provides a non-ignorable, fantastic opportunity for exchange and exploration concerning films and life in general.”
Introduction of the Chairman: Cristian Mungiu
Cristian Mungiu was born in Iaşi, Romania in April 1968. Before studying film, he worked as a teacher, and also a journalist for newspapers, radio and television station.
His film debut Occident/West, was premiered in Quinzaine des Realisateurs in Cannes in 2002 and was an audience hit in Romania.
In 2007, his second feature 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, was awarded the Palme d’Or in Cannes. The film later received several awards as the best film of 2007 from various international associations of film critics. It also won the European Film Academy awards of Best Film and Best Director.
Mungiu returned to Cannes in 2009 as a writer, producer and co-director with the collective episodic film Tales from the Golden Age. In 2012, the Beyond the Hills wrote and directed by him, was double awarded for the Best Screenplay and Best Actress.
Mungiu was in the jury of Cannes Film Festival in 2013.
In 2016, his fifth film Bacalaureat/Graduation was screened in the 69th Cannes Film Festival, and won the Best Director award.
The 20th Shanghai International Film Festival will be held during June 17-26, 2017.
source: 2017-03-27 siff.com