Pingtan, an island off the coast of Fujian province and the closest location on the Chinese mainland to Taiwan Island, serves as a comprehensive pilot zone for cross-Straits integration and a key hub for international trade and logistics. It is also recognized as China's second international tourism island, following Hainan. This vibrant region recently played host to the 5th IM Cross-Straits Youth Film Festival (IMFF), a celebration of emerging cinematic talent.

Centered around the theme "Wind Has Its Own Direction," the festival garnered a total of 2,059 narrative short film submissions and 519 non-narrative short film submissions. Following a rigorous review process, 50 outstanding shorts were shortlisted for screening. During the event, top honors were announced, with Yan Haoxuan from Taipei University of the Arts clinching the most prestigious award, the "Qilin Best Film," for his work The Prisoner Dog.

"Participating in the Pingtan IM Cross-Straits Youth Film Festival is an excellent opportunity for young creators from both sides of the Straits to connect and exchange ideas," Yan stated. "I will carry forward this momentum to craft better stories and produce better films."

This year's festival expanded its reach by introducing two new units: the "Future Is Now·AIGC Unit" (dedicated to AI-generated content) and the "Filming a New Kind of Vlog" unit (a collaboration with Douyin). The vlog unit alone drew 500,000 submissions and generated over 20 billion views. Awards were presented to outstanding works in both the AI-generated content category and the promising vlog category. Sun Qianhui, a creator of the "Best AI Short Film" winner The Dance of Electric Sparks, expressed her gratitude: "We will use the prize money for new creative projects. This award will undoubtedly motivate us to keep creating, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the Pingtan IM Cross-Straits Youth Film Festival next year."

Beyond film screenings and awards, the festival has also evolved into a platform for project incubation. Director Jiang Boting—whose short film won an award at the 2nd Pingtan IM Cross-Straits Youth Film Festival—returned this year with her feature-length project, which was developed through the festival's incubation program. She shared her creative journey to inspire fellow creators to uphold courage and persistence in their work.

Over the past five years, the Pingtan IM Cross-Straits Youth Film Festival has received a total of 12,705 film submissions. By offering a platform for filmmakers and industry professionals from both sides of the Straits to collaborate and exchange ideas, it has grown into the largest and most prestigious youth film exchange event in the cross-Straits region.