JAEGER-LECOULTRE REINFORCES ITS SUPPORT OF CHINA’S CINEMATIC ARTS AT THE 25TH SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Celebrating its 12^th year of continuous partnership with Shanghai International Film Festival, Jaeger-LeCoultre will again present the Glory to the Filmmaker award, as well as continuing its support of the cinematic arts through the Film Restoration Programme. Marking its presence at the 25^th edition of the Festival, which runs from 9–18 June 2023, the Swiss fine watchmaking Maison will welcome guests to a special evening featuring the world premiere of The Reverso Musical Show.

Preserving Cinematic Heritage

This year marks the 12^th year of the Film Restoration programme, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s ongoing collaboration with Shanghai International Film Festival to protect China’s cinematic heritage for future generations. The collaboration reflects La Grande Maison’s own commitment to the preservation of heritage: in a dedicated restoration workshop established within its Manufacture, specialist watchmakers breathe new life into historic timepieces that might otherwise be lost forever. Under the Film Restoration programme 16 films have so far been preserved, spanning many different genres and including some of the most seminal works in Chinese cinema of the past 80 years. Among the most recently restored are Outside the Window (1973) directed by Sung Tsun-shou, A Soul Haunted by Painting (1994) by Han Shuqin, Flowers of Shanghai (1998) by Hou Hsiao-hsien and Hu Sang’s 1956 masterpiece, New Year Sacrifice.

The latest film to be restored, Early Spring in February (1963) is the best-known work by the great Third Generation director, Xie Tieli.

Celebrating the Filmmaker’s Art

Having a deep affinity with the world of film through a shared passion for both artistic and technical savoir-faire, Jaeger-LeCoultre has long been a supporter of the cinematic arts in China. For La Grande Maison, the protection, preservation and transmission of craft – in its many forms – is a fundamental value, and it is proud to maintain its commitment to the exceptional creativity represented by the art and craft of filmmaking in China. The prestigious and highly coveted Glory to the Filmmaker Award made its debut at Shanghai International Film Festival in 2018 to honour Chinese filmmakers who have made outstanding contributions in their field. The recipient of the 2023 award – considered to be a Lifetime Achievement recognition – will be a leading figure in Chinese cinema.

Honouring the Golden Ratio with a new Musical Show

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s private event to be held during the film festival pays homage to the Golden Ratio – the number that defines aesthetic harmony and has been the guiding spirit of the Reverso since it was created in 1931. Inspired by the world’s first drive-in movie theatre, which opened in the early 1930s, the specially designed ‘Art Deco Cinema’ also pays homage to the period acknowledged as the first golden age of Chinese cinema, centred in Shanghai.

The highlight of the evening will be the world premiere of The Reverso Musical Show, a spectacular sound-and-light show projected onto a giant screen of falling water. Telling the story of the Golden Ratio in four chapters, from the observation of nature, to the quest to define a formula for beauty, to mankind’s creation of beautiful objects governed by the golden ratio and concluding with the Reverso, which expresses the spirit of harmony with such eloquence. The ground-breaking British musician TØKIO M¥ERS composed a new soundtrack especially for the show, commissioned by Jaeger-LeCoultre through its Made of Makers programme, and will give a live performance of it during the premiere.