SIFF YOUNG, the filmmaker discovery-and-incubation program backed by the Shanghai Film Bureau, has unveiled its class of 2026 – nine talents selected from 59 applicants spanning directing, producing and screenwriting.
The five directors named are Bai Xue, Su Biao, Teng Congcong, Wang Tong and Xu Lei. The three producers are Hu Jing, Titi and Xie Haochi, with screenwriter Zhou Yunhai rounding out the cohort. Their projects, spread across post-production, production and development, span multiple genres and scales.
The announcement ceremony was held on the sidelines of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival. Fang Shizhong, executive vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of CPC and director general of the Shanghai Film Bureau, presented certificates to the honorees.
Nominations came from 13 industry recommenders and 17 companies, including iQIYI and CMC Pictures, as well as from established filmmakers Jia Zhangke and Jojo Hui. The final-round jury was chaired by director Wen Muye – himself a SIFF YOUNG alumnus from 2023 – and included director-screenwriter Dong Runnian, producer Liang Lin, Light Chaser Animation Studio president Yu Zhou and screenwriter You Xiaoying, who was also among the first batch of screenwriters honored under the program.
