Using competition to promote learning and film to transmit literature: Nanchong Film Industry Vocational College uses the lens to tell the story of Nanchong well

Recently, Nanchong Film Industry Vocational College (hereinafter referred to as "Nanying") has added another heavyweight honor to its film and television creation - the microfilm "Lights" created by teachers and students of Nanying won two important honors in just two weeks in November: first, it won the "Campus Microfilm Unit First Prize" and "Spring Silkworm Award" at the 20th Sichuan Province Campus Film and Television Education Achievement Release Exhibition, and then won the "Best Editing Award" at the 5th Asia International Youth Film Festival and Inner Mongolia Youth Film Night. This series of achievements not only continues the strong performance of Southern Film's works in domestic and international competitions, but also highlights its distinctive educational characteristics of using light and shadow as a medium and deeply cultivating local culture. Here, we officially announce that in 2026, we will continue to explore the rich cultural resources of Nanchong and focus on the folk customs of Longmen Ancient Town to create new film and television works, allowing more Nanchong stories to be presented on a wider stage through the screen.

New work 'Lights' wins double awards, capturing the traditional charm of Shunqing's' Toad Festival'

As the core work of this award, 'Lights' takes the local traditional festival of' Toad Festival 'in Shunqing District as its creative core, capturing the folk details and humanistic temperature during the festival with delicate camera language. The film realistically presents the traditional rituals and daily life scenes of the "Toad Festival", vividly showcasing the local historical memories carried by the festival and conveying the vitality of traditional folk customs in contemporary times. At the Sichuan Province Campus Film and Television Education Achievement Exhibition, the judging panel praised the film for "cleverly integrating local festival culture with a youth perspective, possessing both viewing value and cultural dissemination value"; At the Asian International Youth Film Festival, its precise and smooth editing techniques were highly recognized by the judges, who praised it for "allowing the narrative rhythm of traditional festivals to be relaxed and balanced, achieving a dual unity of cultural connotation and artistic expression".

Previous masterpieces have won international recognition, and Langzhong elements have become cultural communication business cards

The impressive performance of 'The Light' is another testament to the creative strength of Southern Film and Television. Previously, Southern Film's works have repeatedly demonstrated the "Southern Film Power" and polished the "Nanchong Business Card" on the international stage. In 2024, the short film "Warm Light" broke through from more than 3900 entries and won the "Best Student Film" award at the 4th Asia International Youth Film Festival. Later, it also won the "Best Director's Work Award" at the 20th International "Youth Film Era" in Russia. This work, set against the backdrop of the ancient city of Langzhong, tells the touching story of Xiang Chen, a student from Southern Film Academy, who uncovers the memories of his ancestors through a steamed bun with a unique "imprint" while collecting wind in Langzhong. He explores the ancient city, movies, and waiting, allowing Langzhong culture to cross national borders through light and shadow.

Even earlier in 2023, Southern Film's "Alternative Life" won the "Best Art Award" at the 3rd Asia International Youth Film Festival, laying a solid foundation for the school's educational path of "transmitting literature through film". From the historical heritage of Langzhong Ancient City to the folk vitality of Shunqing's "Toad Festival", Nanying's works have always been based on the local culture of Nanchong, forming a good dissemination effect of "one work brings fire to one cultural symbol".

Promoting learning through competition "cultivates talents, and school local collaboration assists in creation

Multiple works continue to achieve excellent results, driven by the distinct educational philosophy of Southern Film and the strong support from various schools and regions. Since its establishment, Nanying has always adhered to the core positioning of "based in Nanchong, serving Nanchong", and taken "competition to promote learning, competition to promote teaching, and the combination of learning and competition" as its educational and teaching model, carefully building a high-tech and professional film and television talent training and practice platform. From script polishing, on-site filming to post production, the faculty and student production team went deep into various parts of Nanchong to explore cultural materials. During the process, they received full support from party committees, governments, enterprises, and all sectors of society in Nanchong. During the filming of "Lights", local departments in Shunqing District actively provided scene coordination, folk materials, and other support, providing strong guarantees for the true restoration of local characteristics in the work.

Tian Jianguo, Vice President of Southern Film, stated that the award of "The Lamp" is not only a recognition of our teaching achievements at Southern Film, but also a motivation and encouragement. It is the result of the hard work of all teachers and students to overcome difficulties, and it is also a high recognition of Southern Film's film and television production capabilities by the film industry. This honor belongs to all Southern filmmakers, and cannot be separated from the nourishment of this fertile land in Nanchong. We use the camera to record the faint light of the Nanchong Toad Festival and tell the story of the bloodline between Grandpa and Xiaoxiao. Although the light is dim, it illuminates cultural confidence and connects ancient and modern times. We firmly believe that local culture is a "rich mine" for creation, and rooting in the local area can produce good works with warmth and depth. In the future, we will continue to work hard to create films and television works that reflect the traditional culture of our hometown, so that the traditional lights of the Chinese nation will always illuminate the process of Chinese path to modernization.

Focusing on Longmen Ancient Town in 2026, continuing to write a new chapter in local cultural creation

While continuously receiving honors, Southern Film has clarified its future creative direction. In 2026, we will focus on creating new works around the folk customs and traditions of Longmen Ancient Town in Nanchong. We will deeply explore the unique cultural elements of the town, such as water transportation culture, dock memories, traditional festivals, and folk stories. Through various forms such as microfilms and documentaries, we will showcase Longmen Ancient Town's cultural persistence and new vitality in the face of changing times.

The cultural heritage of Longmen Ancient Town is profound and unique. The long-standing folk traditions and historical stories that have been accumulated for many years are valuable assets worth permanently recording by light and shadow, "Tian Jianguo said. The next step is to form a special research team to visit the residents of the ancient town and systematically collect historical materials, striving to preserve the original flavor of traditional culture and integrate contemporary narrative styles that are popular among audiences, achieving an organic unity of cultural inheritance and artistic innovation.

From the ancient city of Langzhong to the "Toad Festival" in Shunqing, and to the upcoming creation of Longmen Ancient Town, Nanying has always used film and television works as a link to fully promote the inheritance and dissemination of local culture in Nanchong. In the future, Nanying will continue to practice the school running idea of "deeply integrating education and teaching with local cultural industry, and closely combining school development with Nanchong's high-quality development", carefully polish more light and shadow works with Nanchong flavor, let Nanchong culture go out of Sichuan and into the whole country, and inject strong cultural momentum into the "Nanchong Action" of "Chinese path to modernization leading the modernization of Sichuan"!