Conclusion of the 9th Ya’an Panda & Nature Film Week

After a five-day span, the 9th Ya'an Panda & Nature Film Week held in the Chinese city of Ya'an of Sichuan Province concluded on November 10th. The Film Week revolved around themes such as "animal and nature," "ecology and environment protection" and "greenness and economy," and hosted numerous activities such as film solicitation and selection, film screening, film sharing and meeting with directors, the "Giant Panda from Ya'an to the World" Children Painting and Artwork Exhibition, and giant panda art display, among others.

This year's Film Week aimed to construct a platform of global exchanges about nature film culture, and provide exposure to outstanding ecology-themed films and talents from China and elsewhere around the world to boost the growth of the Chinese eco-film industry. The Ya'an Municipal People's Government, the host of the event, hopes to capitalize on the Film Week and the power of movies to awaken and strengthen the public's awareness of environment and ecology.

This year's Film Week hosted in Ya'an solicited from around the world film works that centered on ecology and environment protection themes such as animal protection, environment of the Earth, rainforest ecology, and the world of wild animals. A total of 1,735 films from 109 countries and regions across the globe were submitted, and after comprehensive selection, a group of 42 outstanding works were chosen, which were screened and opened to the public for free in designated theaters in Ya'an during the course of the Film Week.

In recent years, Ya'an has leveraged on its multitude of natural resources and advantage in biodiversity to earnestly promote the movie production base construction and film industry development. On October 24th, the China Federation of Radio and Television Associations named Ya'an as a "Designated National Filming Location", including sites such as the Bifeng Gorge Scenic Area, Shangli Ancient Town, Mengding Mountain Scenic Area, China's Most Beautiful Tea Plantation Greenway, Yunfeng Mountain, Hanyuan Lake, Jin Si Nan Shui Street, Laba River, Shenmulei and Anshunchang. The unique natural scenery here has won over the film crews and creative minds of many productions, which is why Ya'an is often seen as the backdrop in quite a number of well-known movie and television productions.

In addition, Ya'an is also famous as the location of the discovery, naming, and type specimen creation of the first giant panda, as well as home to China's largest giant panda artificial breeding base. Among the 24 giant pandas that China have gifted to nine countries and regions, 18 have come from Ya'an. During the span of this Film Week, an exclusive exhibition zone was specially set up for Xiang Xiang, the giant panda that has returned from its stay in Japan. Through photos, story behind the growth of the "Xiang Xiang" family was depicted, while showcasing Ya'an as the "home to the giant pandas".

The Ya'an Panda & Nature Film Week has thus far been held nine times, and is gradually emerging as an animal-, nature- and environment protection-themed movie week with a certain degree of clout in China and even across Asia.

Source: Ya'an Municipal People's Government