Nanjing, China – The fourth NYIT-NUPT Student Film Festival and International Symposium ended Sunday after two days of panel discussions, academic paper presentations, screenings, and remarks by directors and dignitaries, including Shanghai Counsel General Robert Griffiths and NYIT President Edward Guiliano.

"The collaborative, cross-cultural, trans-national aspects of the film industry cannot be ignored," Guiliano said at the festival's opening on Satuday.

The event was organized by NYIT's Center for Humanities and Culture at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT) and the Student Union/Youth League, College of Overseas Education, NUPT. International students from countries including Norway, Malaysia, England, China, Germany, and the United States submitted 80 short narrative and computer animated films on the theme of "longing and inhibition." Among the winners for drama were two films by NYIT-NUPT students, including one featuring professor Thomas Speirs as an actor.

An international symposium featured scholarly presentations and panel discussions on topics related to the theme. Visionary filmmaker Mike Figgis, whose films include Leaving Las Vegas and Internal Affairs, was among the panelists.

Guiliano's remarks, "Moving Beyond Metaphor: A Film Story of America and China," explored the past, present, and future of film. NYIT, he noted, had a special role as a technology leader in the evolution of the industry, with the group now known as Pixar getting its start in special effects and animation at a computer graphics lab in Gerry House on NYIT's Old Westbury campus.

Guiliano also noted the growing interest in China from film producers and theatre industry leaders. Box office revenues for the Chinese film industry have risen more than 25% each year over the past decade, and conventional screens are set to double by 2015. Meanwhile, the city of Wuxi has opened the nation's first large-scale film and television studio and digital film industrial park. Collaborations between China and producers around the world are expected to increase.

"The rest of the world is eager to collaborate with Chinese filmmakers and audiences wish to experience China's rich history in film and culture," he said. "This is an exciting time in the growth of the Chinese film industry."

Guiliano served as moderator of the festival's panel discussion with academics including Figgis, Timothy Corrigan, and Marcia Ferguson from the University of Pennsylvania, Hilary Radner from the University of Otago, NZ, filmmaker Joanna Arong and Yuet-fung Ho of the Asian Film Awards.

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