Panel with Xiaoyuan and Jinjin on Producing Debut Features
Speaker: LI Xiaoyuan, MO Jinjin
Time: Aug 16, 2025 · 9:00 AM-10:30 AM ET / Aug 16, 2025 · 9:00 PM-10:30 PM Beijing Time (including 30min Q&A)
Language: Chinese, with real-time English translation available
This wide-ranging conversation will cover:
- Connection and creative collaboration with the directors.
- Evaluating creative potential and selecting projects.
- Ways to secure funding for debut features, from pitching to investors to leveraging labs, markets, and government grants.
- Balancing creative vision and budget limitations.
- Positioning projects for international recognition.
Speaker
LI Xiaoyuan
LI Xiaoyuan is a Chinese producer, committed to creating genre films with artistic and commercial integrity that are thought-provoking, relatable to the current audience, and marketable in the ever-changing landscape of contemporary Chinese cinema. His portfolio ranges from The Water Murmurs (2022), which was awarded Short Film Palme d’Or at the 75th Cannes Film Festival. He co-produced Love Is a Gun (2023), awarded the Lion of the Future Award at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, and The Botanist (2025), awarded the Grand Prix of The Generation International Jury for the Best Film at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. His other productions include Questions to Heaven (2023), awarded the Fei Mu Award for Best Short Film at the 7th Pingyao International Film Festival and selected by the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival.
MO Jinjin
MO Jinjin was selected for the 2016 Berlinale Talents Tokyo, where her directing project won the Best Project Award and the Next Masters Program Funding. As a producer, her film Borrowed Time (2023) was selected for the New Currents Competition at the 28th Busan International Film Festival, the Bright Future section at the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Firebird Awards Competition at the 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival, among others. Her upcoming film Say My Name (in post-production) won three awards at the 2025 HAF, and was presented at the 78th Cannes Film Market. Hong Kong film Altarage was selected for the HAF Film Lab, and the China–Malaysia co-production When We Were Young received a development grant from the Malaysian Government and is currently in development.