On April 8, the 12th Looking @China Golden Lenses Award Ceremony and the 2026 Looking @China Youth Film Project Launching Ceremony were held at Beijing Normal University (BNU) . Diplomatic officials from the embassies in China of Estonia, Romania, Ecuador, Indonesia, Hungary, Greece, Mexico, and other countries, more than 30 international faculty members and students from countries including Argentina and Serbia, as well as over 100 domestic experts and scholars, gathered for the occasion. The event was hosted by Luo Jun, Deputy Director of the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture (AICCC) at BNU.

The "Looking @China Youth Film Project" is an international youth cultural exchange program jointly organized by the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture (AICCC) at  BNU and the Huilin Foundation, with academic support from the Film and Media Committee of the China Association of Higher Education. Now in its 15th year, the program has invited more than 1,200 young foreign directors from 102 countries and has produced more than 1,160 documentary shorts. In 2014, the project established the "Golden Lenses Awards" to specially honor outstanding works of the year distinguished by keen observation and profound insight. The awards have been presented for 11 editions to date.

In his remarks, Liu Changxu, Vice President of BNU, said that after 15 years of dedicated development, the project has become an important platform for heartfelt exchange between Chinese and international youth and for mutual learning among civilizations. This year's event focuses on the contemporary urban landscape of China and seeks to present a real, multidimensional, and comprehensive image of China to the world through youth perspectives and cinematic expression. He expressed the hope that young people from around the world would use their cameras to record the stories of the times and build bridges of understanding between people.

Liu Changxu, Vice President of BNU

In his remarks, Huang Huilin, founder of the “Looking @China” project and the Huilin Foundation, Senior Professor at BNU, and Dean of AICCC, first reviewed the accomplishments of the 2025 “Looking @China Youth Film Project.”  Huang emphasized that “Looking @China” will always remain an open door, providing all young people who love peace and aspire to exchange with a platform for equal dialogue and collaborative creation, and expressed the hope that they would pool the strength of youth through exchange and mutual learning and continue writing new chapters of civilizational dialogue through sincere communication.

Huang Huilin, founder of the “Looking @China” project and the Huilin Foundation, Senior Professor at BNU, and Dean of AICCC

Luo Jun, Deputy Director of AICCC at BNU

Xiang Yunju, representative of the final review panel for the 12th Golden Lenses Awards and Executive Dean of AICCC, introduced this year’s awards selection process. He said that the jury strictly followed a two-round mechanism of preliminary review and final review, with Chinese and international experts from the fields of film, television, and academia participating in the selection of a group of outstanding films that combine cultural discovery with artistic expression. Xiang emphasized that the core idea of the “Looking @China” project is to enable foreign youth to experience China firsthand, use film as a medium, and employ documentary shorts to capture authentic and tangible stories of China, presenting an image of China that is warm and rich in depth while advancing mutual learning among civilizations.

Xiang Yunjv, representative of the final review panel for the 12th Golden Lenses Awards and Executive Dean of AICCC

The 12th Golden Lenses Awards selected its winners from films produced under the 2025 “Looking @China” project, including 1 First Prize, 5 Second Prizes, 8 Third Prizes, 1 Film of 2025, 1 Special Award, 1 Best Artistic Express Award, 1 Best Cultural Discovery Award, 3 Best Internet Reach Awards, 3 Best Work of Behind the Scenes Awards, and Best Organization Awards.

The Pulse Beneath the Steel won the First Prize of the 12th Golden Lenses Awards. Jia Leilei, Research Fellow at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, read the award citation. Five films, Behind the Shadows, Silence of the Iron, Fu Cang-Touch The Earth, The Green Bamboo Slips Society and Driving in the Wind, won the Second Prize of the Golden Lenses Awards. Eight films, My Dream—The Wonder of Wu, Take a seat, Sospiri, Generation Road, Closet to the Heart, Where the sea ends, Wuhan Dialect, and THE Border, won the Third Prize of the Golden Lenses Awards. Four films, namely Mirror of the East under the Olive Branch, Fleeting Hours, Eternal Chongqing, Love Across the Tides, and When All Things Resonate, won the Best Work of Behind the Scenes Awards. The Puppet's Soul, Anatomy of a Fish Market, and In Harmonious Resonance won the Best Internet Reach Awards. Meld inside and out won the Special Award. The Pulse Beneath the Steel won the Best Artistic Express Award. Silence of the Iron won the Best Cultural Discovery Award. My Teacher Huang Huilin won the Film of 2025 Award.

Anhui Normal University,  Beijing Normal University, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Guangxi Minzu University, Central China Normal University, Jiangnan University, Liaoning Normal University, Quzhou Southern Confucian Culture Development Center, Quzhou University, Southwest University, Xinjiang University, and Zhaoqing University won the Best Organization Award of the 12th Golden Lenses Awards.

The launch ceremony of the 2026 “Looking @China Youth Film Project” began with a flag presentation ceremony, officially marking the start of this year’s program.

At the launch ceremony, the guest speakers highly praised the unique value of the “Looking @China” project in promoting international youth cultural exchange and mutual learning among civilizations, expressed their expectations and best wishes for this year’s focus on Chinese cities under the theme “Urban Heritage · Fashion · Vitality,” and said that they would work together with partners from China and abroad to use the camera to record a real, multidimensional, and comprehensive China.

Starting now, more than 90 international youth participants will travel to nine provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across China for relay-style experiential and filming activities. Chinese faculty members and students have already made full preparations and warmly welcome friends from all over the world. In July, a celebration marking the 15th anniversary of the “Looking @China” project will also be held, bringing together guests from various sectors once again for the occasion.