Chongqing- On October 9th, the launching ceremony of the "2020 Looking China·Foreign Youth Film Project·Chongqing Trip” was officially held at Southwest University. It is a Chinese cultural experience project sponsored by the Beijing Normal University Huilin Cultural Fund and the China Culture International Communication Research Institute.

Gaining an increasingly extensive influence, the project aims to express Chinese charm and promote Chinese culture through young foreign filmmakers' unique perspective. With the assistance of Chinese volunteers from Southwest University, the "Looking China" project has invited 10 participants from different countries coming to Chongqing this year, including university teachers, Ph.D., master and undergraduate students from Pakistan, Madagascar, Cameroon, Nigeria, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Ghana, and Eritrea.

With the assistance and one-to-one cooperation of Chinese volunteers, each team will be expected to produce a 10-minute Chinese cultural documentary, presenting culture in Chongqing and recording China's beauty through their lens.

According to Chunyuan An, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee at Southwest University, the theme of film this year is "farming, farms, and farmers." “All of the young foreign filmmakers have been in China for at least 2 years, and they share a strong interest in Chinese culture,” said An. “Therefore, I believe they will bring us plenty of surprises through their experience and understanding about China through the idea of storming and storytelling processes.”

“I’ve met a lot of new people and new friends, and we’ve been able to work harmoniously, especially with the Chinese students,” said Enyiazu Franca Adanne, a foreign student director from Nigeria, who is also a Ph.D. student from the Faculty of Education at Southwest University. “We’ve been able to come together as a one. I also truly believe this program is a medium for cross-cultural communication between international students and domestic students.”

According to An, the project is intended to highlight the independent creation and unique experience of foreign youth telling Chinese stories, thereby enhancing the international influence and appeal of Chinese culture, and strengthening cross-cultural communication, exchange, and cooperation between Chinese and foreign youth.

“2020 is the tenth year of the ‘Looking China·Foreign Youth Film Project,’” said An. “In the past nine years, there have been people from the United States, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Georgia, India, Singapore, South Korea, Israel, Australia, Argentina, etc.” 

He continued, more than 600 young foreign directors in 60 countries have come to China for the "Looking China" project, telling stories of different cities in China through their knowledge, angles, and camera lenses. Among the 609 short films produced, they have won more than 100 international prizes.

“On behalf of the Institute of Chinese Culture International Communication of Beijing Normal University and the organizing committee of the ‘Looking China Foreign Youth Film Project,’ I would like to welcome the ten foreign young directors who have just joined our "Looking China" family,” said Feng Gao, Executive Dean of the Institute of International Communication of Chinese Culture at Beijing Normal University.

Gao also expressed his appreciation to the Publicity Department of Chongqing Municipal Party Committee for their strong support to the event and every volunteer who has been highly engaged in the project. “We believe that this year's Chongqing trip will be very smooth and brilliant,” said Gao.

In 2018, the "Looking China" event was first established in Chongqing. According to the annual theme of "Ecology, Biology, and Life," 10 documentaries with Chongqing characteristics were filmed. Among them, "Guantong" won the second prize of the 5th "Looking China" Golden Lens Award. The work called "Mountain People" won the special award of the 5th "Looking China" Golden Lens Award. Furthermore, Southwest University won the Best Organization Award of the 5th "Looking China" Golden Lens Award.

In 2019, the Chongqing team closely adhered to the annual theme of "Moment, Season and Time." The film called "Jiaotong Teahouse" won the first prize of the 6th "Golden Lens Award," and the two works of "Time Driver" and "Three Hours of Spring" won the first prize of the 7th Vancouver (International) Chinese Film Festival Red Maple Leaf Award. "Three Hours of Spring" also won the Excellence Award of the 2019 "Telling Chinese Stories" Creative Communication Competition.