Shanghai, a city with a long film history, has become the gathering point for the world of cinema as the Golden Goblet Awards opened with a ceremony at the Shanghai Grand Theater. The evening began with an AI-powered light and film performance titled Shadow Dream, immediately signaling the role that technology would play throughout this year's edition. The opening set a forward-looking tone for one of Asia's most closely watched film events.
Artificial intelligence featured prominently in the program, in step with Shanghai's wider development as a global hub for the technology. The festival introduced a new AI studio section built around the idea that such tools can reshape the future of filmmaking. The addition placed AI alongside traditional cinema at the heart of the event rather than on its margins, reflecting how the city wants to be seen.
The Golden Goblet jury for the main competition brings together 21 members from 16 countries, a panel chosen to span a broad range of filmmaking backgrounds and traditions. Presiding over it is the acclaimed actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who serves as jury president for the headline contest. His role places one of the region's most recognizable screen figures at the center of this year's awards.
Speaking about the work ahead, Leung said that in the coming days he and his team would experience films from around the world one by one. He spoke of feeling the imagination and creativity that different cultures bring to the screen, describing an event that had already created many memorable moments. His words framed the jury's task as a journey through global storytelling rather than a simple ranking exercise.
This year the Shanghai International Film Festival is extending its reach through a new screening model that keeps the program running until June 28. The festival will show more than 420 films across Shanghai and the wider Yangtze River Delta region. In total, organizers have scheduled over 1,600 screenings for audiences across the area, making it one of the busiest entries on the regional calendar.
Organizers presented the event as proof that in Shanghai cinema is much more than what happens on the big screen. The festival, they said, is becoming part of the city's cultural landscape, connecting audiences through the universal language of storytelling. The mix of an international jury, a packed screening calendar and a strong push into new technology captures the direction the organizers are setting for the years ahead.