Beijing Pops: Gong Li to Chair Beijing Film Fest

原创 Yiran Huang theBeijinger

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Feeling left out when your Chinese colleagues are gossiping about a trending star? Puzzled by those glamorous Chinese faces in subway ads, but can't even tell who they are? Beijing Pops will help you get through it all with the latest pop culture and celebrity news.

Mulan star Gong Li named jury president of Beijing International Film Festival

The organizing committee of Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) – which kicks off Aug 14 – announced on Tuesday that movie star Gong Li will be the president of the international jury for this year’s Tiantan Awards.

A well-known international star, Gong has been a fixture of the industry for over 30 years. Her debut film Red Sorghum 红高粱 hóng gāo liáng was a huge hit in 1987, and her role as Jiuer earned her a Golden Bear at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival, making her the first Chinese mainland performer to win the award. Then, in 1992 and 1993 she collected two more prestigious honors from Venice and Cannes for her roles in The Story of Qiuju 秋菊打官司 qiū jú dǎ guān sī and Farewell My Concubine 霸王别姬 bà wáng bié jī.

Confident and elegant, Gong Li is expected to bring something new to this year's Beijing International Film Festival

Now in her 50s, Gong hasn't shown any indication of slowing down. Most recently, she's starred in box office hits such as Leap 夺冠 duó guàn in 2020, and Disney's live-action adaption of Mulan in 2019.

This won't be Gong's first time sitting on a jury panel, having served as president of the 50th Berlin International Film Festival, 59th Venice International Film Festival, 16th Tokyo International Film Festival, and 17th Shanghai International Film Festival. She was also a jury member at the 50th Festival de Cannes.

Well-known host He Jiong’s play lands in Beijing theatre this weekend

If you watch any Chinese TV then you're probably familiar with the country's star host He Jiong. The “national MC” – who has been at the front of Hunan TV’s entertainment show Happy Camp 快乐大本营 kuài lè dà běn yíng since 1998 – is a household name and well-rounded actor with an impressive career on both the stage and screen. This weekend, his play Writing in Water 水中之书 shuǐ zhōng zhī shū will open at Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center. The play, which premiered in Shanghai in 2016, tells the story of a professor who doesn’t believe in “happiness.”

Huang Yici (L) and He Jiong performed the play at Theater Above in Shanghai

Acting opposite He is 15-year-old Huang Yici, the daughter of famous director, actor, and singer Huang Lei. Her breakout role came in 2014, when she starred in a kids' reality show called Where Are We Going, Dad? 爸爸去哪儿 bà bà qù nǎ ér, incidentally, with her father. Born to an artistic family, Huang's talents have been cultivated since childhood, and despite the fact that she's only 15, has already published numerous picture books, done voice acting, and starred in several plays.

Her father, Huang Lei, teaches at the Beijing Film Academy and has been a staple of China's entertainment industry since the 90s. He also helped found the Wuzhen Theatre Festival.

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Cast attends the premiere of Covid-themed film

Chinese Doctor 中国医生 zhōng guó yī shēng, the country's first feature film about the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, hit the big screen on Jul 9, as cast and crew attended the premiere in Beijing last Tuesday and shared some behind-the-scenes anecdotes with the audience.

Yuan Quan (L) and Zhang Hanyu pose for photos on the red carpet

The film's two leading stars, actress Yuan Quan and actor Zhang Hanyu attended the event, the second time the duo has teamed up following 2019's Chinese Captain 中国机长 zhōng guó jī zhǎng.

Born in 1977, Yuan is a Hubei local. She graduated from The Central Academy of Drama in 1996 and was part of a cohort affectionately known as “Seven Golden Flowers,” which also includes international star Zhang Ziyi and five other graduates from the class of '96. She’s regarded as a "cold-beauty" actress, or someone who looks meek but delivers powerful performances. As such, Yuan generally plays characters who are full of wild dreams and often go off track.

Fourteen years older than Yuan, Zhang Hanyu is a Beijing local and also a Central Academy of Drama graduate. He got his start as a voice actor, dubbing everything from Micky Mouse cartoons to The Silence of the Lambs and Saving Private Ryan. Later, he was noticed by famous director Feng Xianggang and went on to appear in many of his movies. In 2007, the war film Assembly 集结号 jí jié hào – in which he played a brave but tragic commander who survives the war but struggles to make peace with its atrocities – made him an overnight sensation, earning him numerous awards and making him the go-to star for such films.

Yuan (L) played a chief attendant while Zhang had the leading role in "Chinese Captain"

In 2019, Yuan and Zhang teamed up for Chinese Captain. The film, which is based on a true story, is about an airline crew who successfully lands a faulty plane, averting catastrophe.