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The 31st Shanghai Television Festival "Magnolia Awards" Ceremony took place on June 26, 2026, at the Lingang Center in Shanghai. As one of the most prestigious and authoritative television honors in Asia, the Magnolia Awards celebrate exceptional achievements in TV broadcasting, acting, directing, and screenwriting.The 2026 edition evaluated outstanding Chinese dramas, variety shows, and international programs. The jury panel was highly globalized, featuring 15 industry professionals from seven countries, including Ireland, Germany, France, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy, and China.

A three-screen video installation juxtaposing the Dutch sky, the artist's grandparents' apartment, and the cityscape of Changsha.

At the Summer Palace follows a mysterious man and a young boy as they wander through the Summer Palace, clad in clothing recalling styles from the 1980s and 1990s. The work unfolds like a hazy moment between dreaming and wakefulness, recalling the stillness of a languid afternoon. The era-specific details present in the setting seem to anachronistically clash with their pair’s clothing and behavior. Through this dislocation of time and space, Yang Fudong evokes the complex emotions of childhood, specifically the mixture of curiosity and unease a child feels upon encountering the strange and unknown.

The loss of biodiversity is highly alarming: our planet is currently experiencing the greatest extinction since the age of the dinosaurs. This film documents the extinction of species currently happening around the world. But it also highlights hopeful initiatives as committed men and women on every continent fight to save endangered species and work towards improving biodiversity.

Young Man, Young Man unfolds in a fragmented structure, reconstructing Yang Fudong’s recollections of his 1980s adolescence in a Beijing military compound, along with scattered memories of collective life in the post-socialist era. In the film, young boys run, practice martial arts, wait for the bus, splash in water, and play in cornfields. There is no fixed narrative; instead, the boys seem to drift through an endless summer. Yet an undercurrent of distance and estrangement suggests that childhood has already quietly slipped away. These moments of adolescent innocence and loneliness, crystalized within the film, form a dreamlike allegory.

Teacher Wang works as a 'mistress dispeller' in China, hired to break up affairs by any means necessary. Through one of her cases, we explore the ways class, capital, and culture collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.

A detailed look at the gradual decline of Shenyang’s industrial Tiexi district, an area that was once a vibrant example of China’s socialist economy. But industry is changing, and the factories of Tiexi are closing. Director Wang Bing introduces us to some of the workers affected by the closures, and to their families.

Against the background of economic reform, Shanggong village will be hosting the Nuo Dance Ritual for the one last time. This inspired the filmmaker to explore the origins of this traditional ritual, and to interrogate--and empathize with--the identity crisis that have long plagued an author's pursuit of her craft.

Ducks are true originals. There are more than 120 different species of ducks in all, a fantastical group of complex characters. Ducks have a talent for survival, and life stories filled with personality and charm. Each bird is more fun than the last, and will leave you wanting more.

In 1985, Wham! were the first Western pop group to perform in communist China. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s two concerts in Beijing and Guangzhou introduced live Western pop to Chinese audiences and marked a turning point for the band. For Wham!, the tour was more than music; it was a bold move to capture American attention and launch them into global superstardom, and it worked.

This historical drama tells the story of Qin Shihuang, who unified China's vast territory and declared himself emperor in 221 B.C. During his reign, he introduced sweeping reforms, built a vast network of roads and connected the Great Wall of China. From the grandiose inner sanctum of Emperor Qin's royal palace, to fierce battles with feudal kings, this film re-creates the glory and the terror of the Qin Dynasty, including footage of Qin's life-sized terra cotta army, constructed 2,200 years ago for his tomb.

A documentary about Shaolin Kung Fu starring Jet Li

Equal parts documentary, essay, and narrative,"Captain Elliot's Circle" is mostly a poetic interaction with an obscure corner of Chinese and British history. Constructed using primary source documents about the taking of Zhoushan, Britain's first choice for a seaport, in the late 1830s,this movie uses Captain Charles Elliot's reluctance to brutalize the Chinese to reflect on the cyclical nature of history and the power structures that move it. The long takes used throughout function to illustrate the dramatically different ways in which people who lived in the mid-19th century perceived time. Additionally, it represents the psychological effect of living on an island regardless of what era you were born in.The last third of the movie focuses on a young woman whose strange day job has taken her far away from the island of Zhoushan generations after Captain Charles Elliot was last there. "Captain Elliot's Circle" was shot on location in Zhoushan and Hangzhou.

Venturing into the wilds of China, "Born in China" captures intimate moments with a panda bear and her growing cub, a young golden monkey who feels displaced by his baby sister, and a mother snow leopard struggling to raise her two cubs.

Filmmaker Jia Zhangke chronicles his local literature festival in Shanxi, China which includes a multi-generational roster of the country's most esteemed writers.

This is the first documentary film to depict the emotional growth and journey of contemporary Chinese animation creators. Through interviews with many prominent animators, the film offers a rare glimpse into the diverse experiences and behind-the-scenes stories that have shaped the evolution of Chinese animation.

After sharing her clothing designs on social media, working-class country girl Fairy Wang becomes an internet sensation. She soon discovers that fame isn't always a good thing.

As the Year of Gengzi arrives, drastic changes unfold one after another...Within the legacy of the Manchu banners, sheltered by their ancestors, they indulge day after day in bygone glories, helpless and resigned.At the foot of the imperial city, swept along in the torrent of history, they follow hesitantly, struggling to make choices that shape their lives.They embody the blood and tears of a nation’s past; they are the common folk immortalized in the writings of later generations.

How to craft "Xu Ke's Cottage" and "Hu-style Aesthetics"? How to create highlight moments that strike both laughter and tears? Let’s walk into the inspirational haven beyond the camera with the behind-the-scenes creators !

Synopsis Le-Hun moved away to avoid her good friend Tshiu-Bi and her husband Siu-Gi, but by a twist of fate, she ended up rekindling her romance with Siu-Gi and accidentally fell pregnant with his child. Forty years later, Le-Hun’s grandson uses his camera to capture her recollection of the past and her yearning for her son.

Three farming families in Hanyuan, China, strive to give their children a good life in the midst of an ecological crisis, as widespread use of pesticides leads to a dramatic decline in bees and other pollinating insects in the valley.

The documentary marks the directorial debut of Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan, it documents his deeply personal journey of self-healing in the aftermath of a devastating cyber media storm in August 2021 that abruptly halted his acting career.

More preoccupied with "history" than Wu's other works, My Time in the Red Guards is a record of his fascination with the missed moment, Mao's Cultural Revolution. In 1966, the Red Guards ironically represented the official avant-garde, a movement carried forward by youth determined to become heroes of the Revolution. Wu interviews people who had joined the Red Guards as high schoolers, most now successful professionals, some Party members. The miscalculations and cruelties of this extreme cultural campaign are spread out before us, detailed by personal recollection and further illustrated by old agit-prop newsreels. Misgivings and fond remembrance vie for position as the interviewees seem to confuse the nostalgia of youthful action with the excesses of historical fact.

Hummingbirds are amazing creatures to behold. They are the tiniest of birds, yet possess natural born super powers that enable them to fly backwards, upside-down, and float in mid-air. Their wings beat faster than the eye can see and the speed at which they travel makes people wonder if it was indeed a hummingbird they actually saw. They also are only found in the Americas. These attributes have both intrigued scientists and made it challenging to study the species, but with the latest high-speed cameras and other technologies, Super Hummingbirds reveals new scientific breakthroughs about these magical birds.

Eleven Tibetans prostrate themselves every few steps during a 1,200-mile pilgrimage that lasts for seven months.

Yaqin is a girl eager to see the world. WANG Jiong is a boy who stakes his career on a confession. These two newly graduated friends both want to escape their families and realise their self-worth. But when an imperfect society collides with an imperfect self, when cheerfulness becomes a mask, and when initial aspirations waver in reality, what kind of people will they turn out to be after this stumbling coming-of-age journey?

Three attempts at reconnecting with often traumatic pasts, all leading to flights from home and the need for personal reinvention. A documentary triptych of many layers and emotions, whose parts connect with each other in unexpected ways.

Filmmaker Fang Li and his crew explore exhaustive historical investigation, as far as possible to find the core of the British, American, Japanese and Chinese parties and descendants, trying to infinitely close to the truth of the World War II "Death Ship" — "Lisbon Maru", which is 30 meters under the sea off the East Polar Island in Zhoushan, China.

After seven years of living and studying in Poland, Mo returns to her parents in China. She quickly finds herself back in the family's perpetual patterns, but she feels out of place. Her parents' usual care, though well-intentioned, often triggers conflicts with her, while relatives chime in with questions about when she'll take the next step in life. Meanwhile, her relationship with her boyfriend is far from smooth, and then there's the matter of the mole below her eye. According to traditional Chinese face reading, its tear-like appearance will bring misfortune. What will happen if she simply leaves it as it is?

Jackie Chan and Arthur Huang are on a mission to test the Trashpresso, the world's first fully mobile plastics recycling machine, in the harshest environment of the Tibetan Plateau.

An in-depth look at the past four decades of work by legendary martial artist, Jackie Chan.

A 15 part film featuring scenes from Xianghe, running from the mundane to the surreal: people parade in opera costumes, slaughter pigs in public and dine on the fields; they bury the dead and get married, tickling the bride and groom, everything done without speech. Sitting somewhere between intimate personal reels and detached ethnographic records, the work creates a simultaneous sense of immersion and distance – of the type you might associate with end-of-life flashbacks. Yang gives nostalgia a fantastic, mystical bent, as if to suggest that to revel in memory is a creative act.

As a decades-old state-run aeronautics munitions factory in downtown Chengdu, China is being torn down for the construction of the titular luxury apartment complex, director Jia Zhangke interviews various people affiliated with it about their experiences.

As the first city hit in the global pandemic, Wuhan, with a population of 11 million, was placed under an unprecedented lockdown. The film showcases the incredible speed and power of China’s state machinery in its fight against the virus. On the other side of the scale is the crushing bureaucracy of that same machine.

A boy and his mother sit in a cardboard car in front of painted landscape. This postcard from his childhood is what triggers Chinese artist Lei Lei to go on a journey down the rabbit hole of memory. Put together with his signature style of melancholic collage, time jitters in and out of its usual flow as screenshots, found photos and propaganda images appear in succession as if pulled through an archaic machine to explore how truth is coloured by nostalgia.

An exhaustively created moving image mural of Beijing and her inhabitants, painstakingly extracted from an archive of half a million 35mm negatives.

Ten Minutes Older is a 2002 film project consisting of two compilation feature films entitled The Trumpet and The Cello. The project was conceived by the producer Nicolas McClintock as a reflection on the theme of time at the turn of the Millennium. Fifteen celebrated film-makers were invited to create their own vision of what time means in ten minutes of film.

Twenty years after the modern world's most notorious child murder, the legacy of the crime and its impact are explored.

Special Film for the 40th anniversary of Tony Leung‘s debut

The Songs We Sang is a 2015 Singaporean documentary directed by Eva Tang. It is about Xinyao, Singaporean folk music that was popular in the 1980s.

50 % of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050 this will increase to 80%. Life in a mega city is both enchanting and problematic. Today we face peak oil, climate change, loneliness and severe health issues due to our way of life. But why? The Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl has studied human behavior in cities through 40 years. He has documented how modern cities repel human interaction, and argues that we can build cities in a way, which takes human needs for inclusion and intimacy into account.

After A Bright Summer Diary (IFFR 2020) and Ningdu (IFFR 2022) we once again welcome Lei Lei to Rotterdam with this compelling tribute to bygone images and memories. As always, the mundane comes alive through a conscientious montage of gorgeous compositions. A two-part quest for what has been lost through time, Break no.1 & Break no.2 fires the imagination.

Far from home, 17-year-old Ying Ling practices for her examination to become a mortician at one of China's largest funeral homes. The everyday routine of this unusual occupation also serves up both humorous and life affirming moments.

After two failed marriages, Mei still firmly believes in love.

China's first live-action movie shot in space, created and filmed by astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu using an 8K ultra-high-definition camera aboard the China Space Station. It will immerse audiences in the experience of China's space journey, showcasing breathtaking landscapes, life inside the space station, and the authentic inner world of the astronauts.