The 28th edition of the Shanghai TV Festival wrapped up on Friday with its Magnolia Awards presented to a range of TV drama series, documentaries and animation programs. The drama awards were dominated by two shows “A Lifelong Journey” and “Bright Future.”
“A Lifelong Journey,” adapted from a novel of the same name by Liang Xiaosheng, tells the story of three generations of one family in China’s Northeast as time moves from the late Cultural Revolution period through to the country’s reform and opening up. With a starry cast and broadcasters including CCTV-1 and Jiangsu Satellite TV, the show is reported to have attracted 310 million viewers at the beginning of 2022. In mainland China, it ran for 58 episodes, while in Hong Kong it played in 35 parts.
“Bright Future” is a 24-part CCTV-1 political drama which tells the story of a local official who united his county.
Chinese sci-fi also shone at the awards. A video-game designer and his girlfriend (prizewinner Liu Dan) try to solve the mystery of a bus bombing in “Reset.” “Three Body,” the Tencent-backed Chinese adaptation of The Three Body Problem novel, won a Magnolia award for best art direction. (Overseas, Netflix is preparing its own adaptation based on the same source material.)
Magnolia Awards for overseas productions went to HBO’s Jessica Chastain-starring mini-series “Scenes from a Marriage” and to Werner Herzog’s documentary about vulcanologists “The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft.”
Away from the awards race, the STVF saw the hybrid return of the STVF Market. Held at the downtown Shanghai Exhibition Center in person and combined with the International Film & TV Online Market that was introduced in 2020, it brought together nearly 150 exhibitors, of which about 40% were overseas players.
And, while most of the STVF is firmly aimed at industry professionals, the International Television Showcase, represented a public screening outreach program. Comprising some 35 offline screenings, some with expert introductions and others with cast meet and greet sessions, the sessions took place at 18 venues around the mega-city. Organizers report that they were fully sold out the moment that the online booking channel was opened.
2023 Shanghai Television Festival Awards
TV Drama
Best TV Series (China)
“A Lifelong Journey”
“Bright Future”
Best Director
Li Lu for “A Lifelong Journey”
Best Original Screenplay
Wang Xiaoqiang for “Bright Future”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Wang Hailing, Wang Da’ou for “A Lifelong Journey”
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Lei Jiayin in “A Lifelong Journey”
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Wu Yue in “Bright Future”
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Ding Yongdai in “A Lifelong Journey”
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Liu Dan in “Reset”
Best Cinematography
Yu Xiaochen
Best Art Direction
Liu Yongqi for “Three-Body”
TV Drama
Best Foreign TV Film/Miniseries
“Scenes from a Marriage” (U.S.)
Best Foreign TV Series/Serial
“1985” (Belgium)
Best Documentary Series
“A Long Cherished Dream” (China-U.K.)
Best Documentary
“The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft”
(France-Colombia-Mexico-U.S.-U.K.-Switzerland)
Best Animation
“Moominvalley” Season 3 (Finland-U.K.)
Best Storytelling
“Yao-Chinese Folktales” (China)
Best Variety Program
“Homes in Beautiful China”
“Chinese Festivals” Series
The 28th Shanghai TV Festival International Communication Award (Animation)
“Growing up with Tiantian”
The 28th Shanghai TV Festival International Communication Award (Documentary)
“Once Upon a Bite”
The 28th Shanghai TV Festival International Communication Award (TV Drama)
“Minning Town”
Shanghai TV Festival Special Award
“Charting the Decade”
Grand Prix
“Medal of the Republic”
“Decisive Victory”
“Our Times”