Golden Rooster film festival opens in Xiamen
2026-11-09 09:53:00
The 2026 China Golden Rooster & Hundred Flowers Film Festival opened in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Nov 6, bringing together filmmakers and actors to celebrate Chinese cinema and explore the industry's latest developments.
The opening ceremony featured actor Huang Xiaoming, vice-chairman of the China Film Association, and actress Zhao Liying pressing clapperboard-shaped devices to raise a giant screen and unveil an oversized replica of the Golden Rooster Award trophy.
During the event, filmmakers shared memories of their encounters with cinema and talked about how new technologies are expanding creative possibilities.
Actor Huang Xiaoming and actress Zhao Liying unveiled an oversized replica of the Golden Rooster Award trophy. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Director Lan Hongchun, known for Dear You, recalled watching his first film as a child in a rice paddy after the autumn harvest. Two flagpoles stood in the muddy field, with a white screen stretched between them, while an old projector whirred and creaked. Despite the makeshift setting, the experience helped spark a passion for filmmaking that led him to direct the hit Dear You three decades later.
Taiwan actor Tim Huang, the festival's cross-Strait film promotion ambassador, said technologies such as AI previsualization and virtual production have changed his understanding of filmmaking.
"Although many of our ideas are constrained by shooting conditions and spatial limitations, technologies such as AI previsualization and virtual production have shown me that technology is more than just a tool to assist filming — it broadens the boundaries of storytelling and gives us actors more ways to interpret our roles," he said.
Director Peter Chan, actress Zhou Xun and actor Wang Xiao introduced the festival's opening film, The Road Not Taken, during the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The festival's opening film is The Road Not Taken, directed by Peter Chan and starring Zhou Xun. The film marks the pair's third collaboration. Zhou said she hoped it would give audiences the strength to live well by encouraging them to return to a simpler, more authentic way of life. Chan revealed that the title was inspired by the poem of the same name by American poet Robert Frost.
The winners of the 39th Golden Rooster Awards will be announced at the Strait Grand Theater on Nov 10. A total of 20 awards will be presented: seven in film categories, 12 recognizing individual achievements in filmmaking, and one Special Jury Award. Dead to Rights and Blades of the Guardians, each with seven nominations, are among the leading contenders.
The festival will also screen 84 outstanding films — including 44 Chinese-language titles and 40 international productions — at more than 20 cinemas across six districts of Xiamen until Nov 29.