On April 9, the 11th Golden Lenses Awards Ceremony and the 2025 Looking China Youth Film Project Launching Ceremony were held at Beijing Normal University (BNU).

Kang Zhen, Vice President of BNU, delivered a speech at the ceremony. He extended his congratulations to the award recipients of the 2024 Looking China program as the new edition of the Golden Lenses Awards was about to be announced. He said that he sincerely welcomes young friends from all over the world to start from Beijing Normal University to experience, observe and feel China, and serve as young ambassadors for cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

Speech by Kang Zhen

Huang Huilin, founder of the project, founder of the Huilin Foundation, BNU senior professor, and dean of the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture, gave an overview of the Looking China Youth Film Project.

Speech by Huang Huilin

The Looking China Youth Film Project is an international activity for cultural exchanges among the youth, 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 Television Media Committee of the China Association of Higher Education. Now in its fourteenth year, the program has grown into a major platform for international youth engagement. In 2014, the project established the Golden Lenses Awards to encourage outstanding creators with keen vision and profound insights. The award has been presented for ten times so far.

International Students Attended the Ceremony

The opening session was hosted by Luo Jun, Deputy Director of the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture.

Hosted by Luo Jun

Xiang Yunjv, Executive Director of the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture and a representative of the final jury panel for the 11th Golden Lenses Awards, presented an overview of this year’s award situation. After thorough deliberation by a panel of nine experts from China and abroad, the jury selected one first-prize film, three second-prize films, five third-prize films, two Best Work awards, one Annual Grand prize, one Best Artistic Expression award, one Best Cultural Discovery award, and three Best Online Communication awards. In addition, the Best Organization Award was established, and the Best Documentary on Events Award was also established for the documentary category.

The 2025 Look China Youth Film Project Launching Ceremony began with a flag-raising ceremony, officially announcing the start of this year's event.

In 2025, the project will take "Creativity, Imagination, Innovation" as the theme. This year, more than one hundred young participants from over 30 countries will travel to nine provinces and regions across China, including Beijing, Chongqing, Anhui, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Fujian, and Xinjiang. From now on, the host institutions will cooperate to let more than a hundred teachers and students from all over the world have cultural experiences and create short films in China.