Golden Rooster festival calls for a new chapter in Chinese cinema

The 2026 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival opened in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Nov. 6 with a call for filmmakers and audiences to return to the big screen and rekindle their passion for cinema amid a challenging film market.

Actors Huang Xiaoming and Zhao Liying light up the Golden Rooster statue on stage during the opening ceremony of the 2026 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival in Xiamen, Fujian province, Nov. 6, 2026. [Photo courtesy of the 2026 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival Organizing Committee]

Gao Shiming, vice president of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said Chinese cinema in the new era serves as a cultural representation of Chinese modernization, embodying a clear people-centered stance, a profound realist character and the moral pursuits of the Chinese people.

He called on filmmakers to draw on sincere, passionate creative work and an open, inclusive film culture to inspire a fresh spirit of the times and write a new chapter in the high-quality development of Chinese cinema.

Lin Tao, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Fujian Provincial Committee and secretary of the CPC Xiamen Municipal Committee, said this year marks the eighth consecutive year that Xiamen has hosted the Golden Rooster festival. Over the past eight years, the Golden Rooster brand has continued to gain influence, Xiamen's film and television industry ecosystem has taken shape, and cross-Strait exchanges have deepened.

He expressed hope that the Golden Rooster festival and Xiamen will continue their mutually reinforcing partnership, using "film-plus" initiatives to drive urban development and using cinema as a bridge to bring more outstanding works from Xiamen to the world, thereby further contributing to China's cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture.

The opening ceremony, featuring song and dance numbers, filmmakers' stories and new film showcases, highlighted new mass literature and art while presenting a vivid picture of Chinese cinema rooted in life and keeping pace with the times.

Actor Huang Xiaoming, vice chairman of the China Film Association and the festival's Golden Rooster international communication ambassador, and actor Zhao Liying lit up the Golden Rooster statue on stage. "With everyone here, good stories can reach the audience," Huang told his fellow filmmakers.

Zhao spoke about her acting career, saying, "Only by having seen, felt pain and laughed within the stories can a character come alive."

This year, the hit film "Dear You" grossed more than 2 billion yuan (about $300 million) and was warmly received at home and abroad, earning six nominations for the Golden Rooster Awards. The film's director, Lan Hongchun, attended the opening ceremony and shared stories from behind the scenes.

"The most precious and moving core of a film is rooted precisely in our own life experiences and in the land beneath our feet," Lan said.

Themed around "developing cinematic culture, " this year's festival is hosting more than 60 events across six categories, spanning academic discussion, technology, industry development, talent incubation and public welfare. These include the 39th China Golden Rooster Awards ceremony, forums, a film project market, cross-Strait film cultural exchanges, and the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Life Season. The festival also features technology-focused units, including an AI film unit and an extended reality film season. 

The festival is screening 84 films across its mainland, international and Chinese-language film sections as well as the Cross-Strait, Hong Kong and Macao Youth Short Film Season.

Filmmakers and performers gather on stage at the opening ceremony of the 2026 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival in Xiamen, Fujian province, Nov. 6, 2026. [Photo courtesy of the 2026 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival Organizing Committee]

Deng Guanghui, executive vice chairman of the China Film Association, said the association will work with Xiamen to deepen the integration of film culture and the film economy, enabling the two to reinforce each other.

According to the previously announced nominations for the 39th China Golden Rooster Awards, "Wan Tongshu," "Take Off," "Dead to Rights," "Dear You," "Hideaway: The Dossiers," "Sound of Silence" and "Blades of the Guardians" will compete for best picture. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on the evening of Nov. 10.

Earlier on Nov. 6, at the opening ceremony of the Golden Rooster mainland film section, Cao Jun, deputy secretary-general of the China Film Association, noted that the cultural development of film ultimately depends on people and their works. Talent cultivation, which determines how far cinema can go, and technological innovation, which determines how films attract attention, are the core driving forces of the film industry's development in the new era, he said.

He called on young filmmakers to learn from the spirit of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, as this year marks the 90th anniversary of its victory. He urged them to settle down and take root, and to transform their observations of the times, their empathy for ordinary people and their understanding of life into vivid characters and stories on the screen.