Chinese film director Zhang Yimou was recently appointed as the chairman of the third China Film Director's Guild Young Director Support Program, as announced by the organizers.
The China Film Director's Guild launched the yearly program in order to help the young aspiring directors and raise money by recruiting casts since 2015.
Feng Xiaogang was the director who is famous for his successful films in China, was also the first chairman of the guild in 2015. In the following year, the chairman's position was handed over to Jia Zhangke, an internationally recognized director famous for arthouse dramas like "Mountains May Depart."
Talking about his new role for the guild, Yimou said that he shared his views with the young directors in a video clip released at the program's launch in Beijing last November 16.
He also reminisced that he was 37 years old when he directed his first ever film titled "Red Sorghum" which had won the Golden Bear at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival in 1988.
The program stipulates that the applicants should be younger than 38 years old. This year, the guild will be offering new incentives for winners, which include acting class, inviting celebrities to coach as mentors and providing them professional training.
"Two films are being shot now and eight are preparing for the filming," Said Wang Hongwei, the head of the program committee, adding that the previous winners have already benefited from the platform.
