The 7th San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival was successfully held from October 28 to November 1, 2020. Due to the severe epidemic this year, the entire film festival was held online. The Judge Committee selected more than 50 films in various categories from a large number of applied films and screened them online for five days. Participating films come from North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asian countries. There are short and long films in various units, including feature films, documentaries, experimental films, animations, musical films, MTV videos, etc.

The San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival was registered on October 20, 2010, and became a 501C3 non-profit organization officially approved by the U.S. Federal Government. It has been 10 years now. Under the leadership of the founding chairperson Joanna Zhang, after four years of careful preparation, the first San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival was successfully held in July 2014. Since then, the second to sixth consecutive festivals have been held from 2015 to 2019. In 2020, the whole world suffered from the unprecedented pandemic of COVID-19. There are still many filmmakers who insist on making films and submitting their contributions to the film festival. Under extremely difficult conditions when all theaters and cinemas were closed, Joanna Zhang, the founding chairperson, decided to hold the 7th New Concept Film Festival virtually online this year. She extensively contacted filmmakers from all over the world and worked hard to solicit films, especially encouraging the filmmakers who shot films during the epidemic difficult time and received positive feedback and support from many filmmakers. She invited producers, directors, and main actors to make video recordings to exchange creative experiences. The warm congratulations of these filmmakers on the virtual festival became a highlight this year. The film judges carefully selected award-winning films in various categories under the lead of the director judges Keith Howell and Sean Au. The MTV video “The Most Beautiful View of Back” shot in the first epidemic area of Wuhan, China won the “Best Music Video” Award. A Chinese feature film reflecting the social status “Where Is My Home” won the “Best Feature Film” Award. The “Best Documentary Film” Award goes to an American film “Mustang Saviors”. Both “The Art of Fortune Cookie” reflecting the history of the development of Chinese American small business in San Francisco and the “Going Home” reflecting the painful history of early Chinese workers, won the “Best Short Documentary” Award. The minority feature film “Moonlight” won the “Best Musical Feature Film” Award, and the Chinese film “Shut Down” won the “Best Comedy Film” Award. The lively Canadian animation “My Tagalong” won the “Best Animation” Award. The Brazilian feature film “I Don’t Want to Be Without You”, which reflects the abnormal life during the epidemic, won the “Best Director” Award, and “Shut Down” won the “Best Producer” Award. The feature film “Never Meet Again” reflecting the cross-strait exchanges between Mainland and Taiwan, China won the “Best Screenwriting”. “Best Leading Actor” Award was won by the actor Luan Song of the Vietnamese film “Heiress”; “Best Supporting Actor” was won by the actor Hank Chen of “Never Meet Again”, and the “Best Leading Actress” won by the Chinese young actress Liu Ruoqing of “The Horse of Youth”. The well-known Bay Area hosts Diana Ding, Sue Huang, and Paul Qian hosted the film festival. The staff of previous film festivals has actively participated. Joanna Zhang and Wang Jianping, who is in charge of the website, have been busy for several months to bring more than 50 selected films to the festival website and the Bilibili website exclusively for viewing in Asia for film screenings. Joanna Zhang also directed the whole festival and cooperated with video editor Zane Jiang, working days and nights, finally produced the opening and awards ceremony. From October 28th to November 1st, the 57 selected films were screened for 5 days. When the opening ceremony on October 28th on-air, it immediately attracted the vast attention of the audience. The awards ceremony on November 1st received even more enthusiasm from filmmakers and audiences. The 7th San Francisco International New Concept Virtual Film Festival won a great success and unpredicted praise.

The 8th San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival calls for entry for 2021. All filmmakers are welcome to submit portfolios. Please see details: www.sfnewfilms.com.