iQIYI to host Spring Online Screenings for Beijing International Film Festival
iQIYI Inc. (NASDAQ: IQ) ("iQIYI" or the "Company"), the innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China, announced recently that it will be hosting spring online screenings (the "Screenings") in partnership with Beijing International Film Festival (BIFF), allowing movie-goers to enjoy the film feast just a click away. The Screenings will run from May 1 to May 5, during which 32 films will be screened as part of five different segments. iQIYI will serve as the official streaming platform of the Screenings while Suike, a diversified video-sharing platform under iQIYI, is designated as a premier online video engagement community for the event.
The Academy-award winning film Marriage Story will serve as the Screenings' opening film and be made available for limited online screening. Closing out the Screenings will be the Golden Globe-nominated film Bombshell, of which a Chinese-audio track developed by iQIYI and Shanghai Film Dubbing Studios will be made available for users to choose. The Academy-award winning film Judy will also be released for screening on May 1. Many international films from countries such as India, Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and the Philippines as well as Chinese art and indie films will also be screened as part of the Screenings. In addition, renowned director Chen Kaige, actor Tong Dawei and actress Tan Zhuo will also be invited as special curators to share their love and dreams in the movie world with fans. The festival program highlights iQIYI's extensive content library and its operation capacity, as well as its efforts to introduce high-quality art films to the general public.
"We believe that online film screenings will help revitalize the passion that people have for film festivals during this special period. This includes activities such as getting tickets for films of interests or watching and discussing different films with people," said Song Jia, General Manager of iQIYI Film Center. "The online format also helps us reach a wider audience base and expose our users to different film categories."
The online film screenings will retain the same ticket purchasing practice as traditional film festivals, of which only a limited number of tickets are reserved for blockbuster films. Fans can make an appointment to purchase tickets online, and receive notifications when online sales start. Attendees can use the ticket, which can be conveniently saved online, to watch the movie. Meanwhile, the online film screenings will introduce a host of interactive features to optimize the movie-going experience. For example, before the Screenings, attendees can receive an exclusive invitation letter from the festival organizers to invite their friends to join together. And after a film ends, fans can generate an exclusive virtual movie poster to record their watching history on the online platform.
