{"id":72421,"date":"2023-08-01T17:51:16","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T09:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/?p=72421"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:43:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T04:43:22","slug":"surprise-contest-begins-its-more-fun-when-you-lose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/download-media-en\/surprise-contest-begins-its-more-fun-when-you-lose\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise Contest Begins | It\u2019s More Fun When You Lose"},"content":{"rendered":"

|\u201cA24\u2019s breakthrough from the rigidity and poverty of mainstream genres is not a shortcut; it is the only path for directors of new genres.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the 2025 Surprise Film Festival\u2019s Genre Creation Workshop, director Yang Chao offered this resolute response.<\/p>\n

Blockbusters steeped in the logic of \u201csuccess formulas\u201d have lost their universal relevance in China\u2019s film industry, where the weak are weeded out. Rather than asking \u201chow to take a shortcut,\u201d a set of values that is sufficiently strong, provocative, and even rebellious against the mainstream is the true rule of the game in the open world of surprises.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one can usurp your observations, understanding, and perceptions of the life around you.\u201d Only instinctive, subconscious, reflexive expressions and interactions can build an unshakable and unassailable set of values.<\/p>\n

If we compare the world of genre cinema to a never-ending soccer match, every shot a player takes is a key moment. But how a player falls in love, how they eat a hamburger while sitting on the bench, how they discuss loss in the locker room, or the childhood experience of falling into a pond and learning to rely on their left leg\u2014all these moments will shape the narrative\u2019s rise, fall, and turning points on the field.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The German philosopher Leibniz\u2019s theory of possible worlds posits that an infinite number of such worlds exist. Today, various texts and media are interconnected, forming a narrative universe for young filmmakers\u2014\u201cSurprise\u201d serves not only as a magnetic force where young filmmakers and the industry converge, but also as a playground where film \u201cplays\u201d together with games, music, artificial intelligence, science and technology, and even lifestyles.<\/p>\n

Just as we have invited creators to do over the past two years: Play with the world on your own terms and make it your own.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The 2026 FIRST Surprise Film Festival is now open for submissions.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udfe9 Magnetic Field Section | Live-Action Short Film Competition<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udfe9 Bamboo Dragonfly Section | Animated Short Film Competition<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udfe9 Puzzle Section | Live-Action Short Film Showcase<\/p>\n

Submissions are now open. We invite all participants to click the\u3010\u7ade\u8d5b \u2013 FIRST\u5f71\u5c55 \u00b7 \u897f\u5b81\u9752\u5e74\/\u60ca\u559c<\/a>\u3011<\/span><\/strong>button to view the submission guidelines.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cDwarf Fortress,\u201d the pioneer of open-world games, has built a free-roaming world without a fixed storyline through 710,000 lines of code and an ever-evolving setting. Similarly, the FIRST Surprise Film Festival does not impose a \u201cmain quest\u201d to guide creators toward \u2018success\u2019; the narrative initiative remains firmly in the hands of those who dare to \u201cplay\u201d and create\u2014<\/p>\n

You can choose to be a fortress designer and builder, watching the narrative of a new world flourish under your guidance;<\/p>\n

or you can choose to venture alone into fortresses created by others, playing the role of a free and solitary adventurer.<\/p>\n

A bizarre cat death once occurred in *Dwarf Fortress*: a cat was found lying in its own vomit. Players initially suspected alcohol poisoning, only to discover that the system didn\u2019t allow cats to drink. The truth was that drunken dwarves had spilled ale during a brawl; the cat\u2019s fur became soaked, and after licking it, the cat died of alcohol poisoning due to its low body weight.<\/p>\n

This was not a plot pre-programmed by the developers, but a miracle of emergent storytelling\u2014when the underlying rules governing dwarf brawls, fluid physics, and feline instincts all came into play simultaneously, an unexpected \u201cnew bug\u201d was born.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When we stop obsessing over shortcuts to viral hits and stop forcing the main plot, but instead refine the characters\u2019 subconscious and the underlying laws of the world, the characters will inadvertently \u201cknock over a wine glass,\u201d and the story will naturally branch out in unexpected ways. This reality\u2014which defies common sense yet remains logically sound\u2014is the sharpest weapon for breaking free from clich\u00e9s, and it is the ultimate \u201csurprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dwarven settlement is destined to fall, yet players willingly embrace this fate\u2014Losing is Fun has long been its most distinctive spiritual essence. Perhaps… we can still win one more time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

|\u201cA24\u2019s breakthrough from the rigidity and poverty of mainstream genres is not a shortcut; it is the only path for directors of new genres.\u201d At the 2025 Surprise Film Festival\u2019s Genre Creation Workshop, director Yang Chao offered this resolute response. Blockbusters steeped in the logic of \u201csuccess formulas\u201d have lost their universal relevance in China\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":92928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,35],"tags":[218],"acf":{"time":"","file":false,"slug":"FIRST Surprise Contest","times":"20260514"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72421"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72421"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92931,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72421\/revisions\/92931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstfilm.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}