2026 Yangtze River Delta International Youth Film Festival Unveiled in Ningbo

NINGBO, China, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- From October 17 to 23, the 2026 Yangtze River Delta International Youth Film Festival, guided by the China Film Administration and co-hosted by China Media Group and the People's Government of Zhejiang Province, is being held in Ningbo, China.

As China's first officially established film festival dedicated to young filmmakers, the festival features a "2+5" framework: two major events—the opening and closing ceremonies—and five major sections: the Youth Film Project Market, the China Film New Force Forum, Film Panorama, Theme Event and the "Movie+" Series Events. With two main threads—professional activities and public-benefit initiatives—running throughout, it aims to create a major film event combining professional excellence, commercial value and an international vision, ignite young filmmakers' creative vitality, promote coordinated development of the Yangtze River Delta's film industry, and advance diverse cinematic expression and international outreach.

The ninth China Film New Force Forum will feature keynote speeches on topics including "Film Stories and the China Image," "Cinematic Perspectives in the AI Era," "The New Map of the Film Economy" and "Film and a Changed Audience," as well as roundtable discussions aimed at forging industry consensus.

2026 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Africa. A core thematic event of the festival, the China-Africa Youth Filmmakers Roundtable will provide a platform for dialogue, bringing together more than 100 young filmmakers, scholars and representatives of film and television institutions from China and African countries in Ningbo. The event aims to facilitate connections between China's film and television industry and the African film market.

The festival has launched its flagship "Youth Film Project Market," a one-stop project-incubation platform for young film talent worldwide, to help more young filmmakers light up the Chinese screen.

During the festival, forty Chinese and international films will be screened in 187 showings at 20 cinemas in 10 cities across the Yangtze River Delta. The festival is also creating "Film+" experiences that bring together technology, cultural tourism and consumer activities.

Looking back at the history of Chinese cinema, Ningbo—the "cradle of Chinese film"—has been a constant presence. Generations of Ningbo-born filmmakers have created nearly 50 "firsts" in Chinese film history. In the early days of Chinese cinema, Zhang Shichuan (1891-1953) directed China's first narrative short film Die for Marriage (Nan Fu Nan Qi) and its first sound film Sing-Song Girl Red Peony (Ge Nü Hong Mu Dan), and founded the country's first film school—Mingxing Film and Drama School. Song of the Fishermen (Yu Guang Qu) was filmed on location in Shipu, Xiangshan County, Ningbo, and won China's first international film award. Yuan Muzhi (1909-1978) starred in Children of Troubled Times (Feng Yun Er Nü), in which "March of the Volunteers" was heard on screen for the first time. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Sang Hu (1916-2004) directed New China's first color stage-opera film, Liang San-po A Cu Jing-tchaj (Butterfly Lovers), and its first color feature film, New Year Sacrifice (Zhu Fu). Ningbo filmmaker Xu Jingda (1934-1987) and others directed China's first large-scale, color, widescreen animated feature, Nezha Conquers the Dragon King (Ne Zha Nao Hai), and Hsin-Yen Chang (1934- ) directed China's first martial arts film to gross 100 million yuan, The Shaolin Temple (Shao Lin Si).

Today, Ningbo is home to more than 5,000 film and television enterprises and has built an industrialized, standardized and technology-driven film industry system, creating a landscape where "the whole city is a set, and creation is possible in every season."