Multiple films set to debut this summer

A slate of films scheduled for the 2025 summer movie season took the spotlight at the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), offering a sneak peek at the season's most anticipated releases.

This year's summer lineup of domestic movies spans a wide range of genres, including historical drama, suspense, action, comedy and animation, catering to the diverse tastes of moviegoers.

The production teams of these films introduced the highlights and details of creation process at the film festival, which runs on June 13-22 in Shanghai.

The animated film "Curious Tales of a Temple," set for release in July, drew inspiration from traditional Chinese culture, according to its production team.

Adapted from "Liaozhai Zhiyi (Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio)," a collection of classical Chinese stories by 17th-century writer Pu Songling, the film weaves together folk tales such as "The Painted Skin," which tells a supernatural story that blends horror, romance and moral lessons, "Nie Xiaoqian," a love story of a scholar-turned-tax collector and a lonely demon, and "Taoist Priest on Laoshan Mountain," a story of a Taoist priest who can walk through walls.

This film also stands out for its innovative production techniques.

"The production boasts many highlights. For instance, one of the folk tale animation 'Taoist Priest on Laoshan Mountain' features visual images with felt effects for the first time. Another folk tale animation, 'The Painted Skin,' showcases the aesthetic style of Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) paintings, presenting the 'Liaozhai' story in an unprecedented form," said Yu Zhou, producer of "Curious Tales of a Temple" and president of Light Chaser Animation, a prominent Chinese animation studio.

Another film "Dongji Island," scheduled for release on Aug 8, engaged audiences through a preview of costumes, props, and designs.

Also grounded in history, "Dongji Island" recounts the true story of Chinese fishermen rescuing over 300 British prisoners of war in October 1942, after the Japanese transport ship "Lisbon Maru" carrying over 1,800 British prisoners of war was sunk by a U.S. submarine near the Zhoushan Islands.

"Films for this summer movie season cover a rich variety of genres and themes, reflecting the growing artistic creation abilities of Chinese filmmakers in portraying both contemporary people's life and historical narratives," said Yin Hong, vice chairman of the China Film Association.

The multilingual documentary "Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary No.2," produced by China Media Group (CMG)'s Shanghai-based National Multi-lingual Movies and TV Translation and Production Base, premiered during the festival.

The documentary focuses on the relocation and salvage of an ancient ship at the estuary of the Yangtze River in Shanghai, presenting China's historic breakthrough in underwater archaeology to the global audience.

"The documentary highlights cutting-edge technologies, such as dot matrix cloud scanning and 3D reconstruction, enabling us to watch the details the cultural relics, which are almost invisible to naked eyes," said Pan Yi, director of the CMG Drama and Documentary Programming Center.

The 27th Shanghai International Film Festival officially opened on Saturday in Shanghai, with 49 works shortlisted for this year's Golden Goblet Awards, featuring over 400 domestic and international films screened across Shanghai.

Founded in 1993, the SIFF is a prestigious global event, driven by Shanghai's ambition to become an international cultural hub. The festival has garnered growing international attention thanks to China's flourishing film market.

Multiple films set to debut this summer

Thai and Cambodian leaders must find a way to resolve their differences through talks and not on the battlefield, according to a former Thai foreign minister, who also believes China could be in a unique position to serve as a mediator given its strong ties with both sides.

Border clashes between the two sides have reignited since Dec 7 -- less than two months after the two sides signed a joint peace declaration -- with both trading the blame for instigating the attacks.

The latest round of fighting has left at least 19 Thai soldiers and 19 Thai civilians dead, with over 270,000 people displaced, Thailand's defense ministry announced on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Cambodian Defense Ministry said that 17 civilians have been killed and 77 injured as the Thai military forces have continued airstrikes and artillery shelling into Cambodian territory, with over 438,000 individuals fleeing their homes.

With the two sides continuing to point the finger of blame and trade accusations of attacks on civilians, peace talks appear to be a long way off.

Kasit Piromya, who formerly served as Thailand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, urged the two countries' leaders to put people first, set aside their pride and find a resolution.

"The people must be the priority, not the victory or losses or the battlefield. It's detrimental and destructive to all. It is easy to arouse the passion, but [the sign of] great leaders, great statesmen is to be able to overcome the nationalistic sentiment and come back to the sense and sensibility and to start to talk with one another," he said.

China has called for utmost restraint and every possible measure conducive to a ceasefire to ensure de-escalation of tensions as soon as possible, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman told a daily press briefing on Monday.

China supports direct dialogue and consultation between the two countries, as well as the efforts of ASEAN -- and Malaysia, in particular -- to promote peace talks, and the pursuit of a mutually acceptable solution within the ASEAN framework, according to the spokesman.

Piromya said he believes China could play a constructive role in a peace process between the two sides.

"China has been having, I think, more or less an excellent bilateral relationship respectively with Thailand and Cambodia. So China is in a very unique and great position to bring the two sides, Cambodia and Thailand, together," Piromya said.

Former official urges Thailand, Cambodia to make people priority, end border clashes