Shanghai Film Festival and Sinologists Conference in Focus

China’s cultural calendar is peaking this week with two major events unfolding simultaneously: the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has released its schedule with tickets set to go on sale June 5, while the 3rd World Sinologists Conference has opened in the historic Silk Road city of Dunhuang, Gansu province. Together, the events underscore China’s dual-track approach to cultural diplomacy—engaging global audiences through both modern cinema and traditional scholarship.

Shanghai International Film Festival: Record Submissions and Star-Studded Lineup

The 28th edition of China’s only A-category international film festival runs from June 12 to 28 in an extended format, featuring over 420 Chinese and international films across more than 1,500 screenings. According to The Paper, the festival received a record 3,700 submissions from 105 countries and regions, with many films making their domestic or international premieres in Shanghai.

The festival’s opening film is “The Fourth Act” (第四幕), a drama-reality hybrid exploring creative struggles and self-transcendence. The Golden Goblet Awards competition features three Chinese films vying for top honors: “Paper Box Mystery” (纸盒藏迷), directed by Tan Guangyuan and produced by Derek Yee, starring Zhang Songwen; “Atlantic” (大西洋), a debut feature by Zhong Kaifeng blending fantasy with Northeast China regional identity; and “Burn! Dad” (燃烧吧！爸爸), a black comedy directed by Liu Xiaoyang starring Wen Qi and Ni Hongjie.

Hong Kong screen legend Tony Leung Chiu-wai serves as jury president for the Golden Goblet Awards, joined by Chinese director Guan Hu and other international jurors.

Retrospectives and Special Screenings

The festival is paying tribute to cinema legends with special retrospectives marking Billy Wilder’s 120th birth anniversary, Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birth anniversary, and Ken Loach’s 90th birthday. Classic films including “Double Indemnity,” “Some Like It Hot,” and “The Misfits” will screen alongside Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake” and “Sorry We Missed You.”

A 4K restoration of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” marks its 50th anniversary, while Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Amores Perros” and the pioneering Chinese female cinema classic “The Arch” (董夫人) also receive the 4K treatment. A special Dostoevsky tribute, “Soil and Soul: Dostoevsky on Screen,” commemorates the 205th anniversary of the writer’s birth and the 160th anniversary of “Crime and Punishment.”

Korean cinema makes a strong return with Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” (无可奈何) starring Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin, and Hong Sang-soo’s “The Day She Returns” (她回来的那天). The festival also showcases box office champions from Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea, alongside a sci-fi week featuring Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” and European retro sci-fi classics.

3rd World Sinologists Conference Opens in Dunhuang

Meanwhile, in the ancient Silk Road city of Dunhuang, the 3rd World Sinologists Conference convened from June 2 to 4, bringing together over 300 representatives from nearly 70 countries. As Xinhua News reported, the conference is themed “Integrating Chinese and Foreign Civilizational Wisdom, Jointly Responding to the Challenges of the Times.”

Organized by the China International Exchange Association and the Gansu Provincial People’s Government, the conference featured a keynote address from a senior official of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, who emphasized that “Sinology research is an important path to understanding Chinese civilization and a window to understanding Chinese-style modernization.”

The choice of Dunhuang as the venue carries deep symbolic weight. A major crossroads of civilizations along the ancient Silk Road and home to the UNESCO-listed Mogao Caves, the city embodies the cross-cultural exchange the conference seeks to promote. The conference has evolved geographically from Beijing (2023) to Fujian (2024) and now to Dunhuang (2026), with each location reinforcing China’s Belt and Road cultural narrative.

A Broader Cultural Strategy

While distinct in focus, both events serve China’s broader cultural strategy. The Shanghai International Film Festival projects China’s soft power through modern cinema—the most accessible form of global popular culture—while the World Sinologists Conference promotes traditional Chinese scholarship and civilization studies. Their simultaneous occurrence in early June demonstrates the breadth of China’s cultural calendar and its capacity to host world-class international events.

The festival’s explicit effort to balance “mass appeal” with “professional artistic quality” mirrors a broader approach: engaging both general audiences and specialist communities. The appointment of characters from the popular mobile game “Love and Deepspace” as film recommendation ambassadors further signals a strategy to attract younger, digitally native audiences.

What to Watch For

With SIFF tickets going on sale June 5 at noon, several popular films including Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” and the Chinese competition entries are expected to sell out quickly. The festival runs through June 28, offering cinephiles nearly three weeks of screenings across Shanghai. Meanwhile, the outcomes and resolutions from the World Sinologists Conference may offer further insights into China’s evolving approach to international cultural exchange and its Global Civilization Initiative.