Vision Youth Awards（半夏影展）

Youth Film Festival · Academic Institution–Led Screening Platform


Project Type


Youth Film Festival / Public Screening & Academic-led Film Programme


Time & Location


2023

Chaozhou, Guangdong, China


Organised by

Communication University of China


Local Programme Organiser


Escape Art Club (EAC)


Role


Local Programme Curator · Screening Coordinator · Host

Cai Boxuan (Boosen Tsai)


Background


Vision Youth Awards (officially known in Chinese as Banxia Film Festival) is a youth-oriented film festival initiated and organised by the Communication University of China, focusing on emerging filmmakers and contemporary moving-image practices.




Positioned between academic film education and public cultural engagement, the festival provides a platform for young creators to present works that explore personal experience, social observation, and cinematic experimentation. The Chaozhou programme formed part of the festival’s broader outreach, extending academic film discourse into local cultural contexts.


Description



As the local organiser and curator, Escape Art Club coordinated the Chaozhou screening programme, curating a selection of youth and independent films aligned with the festival’s emphasis on observation, transition, and lived experience.



Screenings were accompanied by moderated discussions, encouraging audiences to engage critically with the films beyond narrative consumption. Rather than treating the festival as a competitive event, the programme foregrounded dialogue, reflection, and accessibility—allowing academic film culture to intersect with everyday community life.


By situating Vision Youth Awards within a grassroots cultural setting, the project demonstrated how institution-led film initiatives can meaningfully connect with local audiences through decentralised programming.


Outcomes



  • Successfully delivered a local screening programme under a national academic film festival framework
  • Presented youth and independent films to community audiences in Chaozhou
  • Facilitated post-screening discussions linking academic film discourse with public engagement
  • Strengthened collaboration between Escape Art Club and higher education film institutions
  • Expanded access to non-commercial cinema outside major urban centres






Significance



  • Bridged academic film education with grassroots cultural practice
  • Elevated local film programming through institutional collaboration
  • Supported emerging filmmakers and youth cinematic voices
  • Demonstrated a scalable model for decentralised film festival programming
  • Reinforced Escape Art Club’s capacity to operate within academic-led cultural frameworks



Keywords



Youth Film · Academic Film Festival · Public Screening · Moving Image · Film Education · Independent Cinema · Institutional Collaboration

2022-2026
Archives


Milestone

  1. Illustrating Kindness (II): A Youth Perspective on Shan Tang Culture Exhibition, Singapore
  2. Capture Story: Culture City of Surakarta, Indonesia
  3. Chao 100+1:Ink, Landscape, Tide - Kan Tai-Keung Solo Exhibition (Singapore Edition)
  4. Zine Project Manager: 阔目Monsoon Fish, China&Singapore
  5. Autumn Program, China
  6. Urban Escape Project: Creative Market & Cultural Week, China


2025

Project Planning & Concept Development

  1. Improvised Notes: Reconstructing the Self and Community Across Boundaries, China

  2. Joo Chiat-Katong Cultural City Walk, Singapore


  3. Newton Teochew Shantang Cultural Experience, Singapore


  4. Illustrating Kindness (II): A Youth Perspective on Shan Tang Culture Exhibition, Singapore


Exhibitions & Public Sharing

  1. Exhibiting Artist, CITA-CITA KITA YANG MULIA（Our Noble Aspirations）, Singapore


  2. Guest Talk: The One- How Localisation Movements Flow from the Local to the Global, China


  3. 三联艺文San-lian Arts&Culture Club: 重低音杂志岛 Heavy Bass Magazine Island Project, China


  4. Guest Talk: Grassroots Book Room-Teochew Beyond Teochew, Singapore

Project Manager

  1. Capture Story: Culture City of Surakarta, Indonesia


  2. NovArt: Graffiti Art from the West to the East, Indonesia



Publications (Book Projects)


  1. Project Manager: Feng Guo Fen Yang Association 160th Anniversary： A Brief History, Singapore 
    2.    

  2. Zine Project Manager: 阔目Monsoon Fish, China&Singapore





2024


Curator


  1. Chao 100+1:Ink, Landscape, Tide - Kan Tai-Keung Solo Exhibition (Singapore Edition)
  2. Illustrating Kindness（I）: A Youth Perspective on Shan Tang Culture Exhibition, Singapore

Project Planning & Project Director
  1. 倩影摇芳Graceful Silhouettes- Solo Exhibition with Public Education Programme Development, China
  2. Take you to West Lake(LaLaSo):City Walk on Chinese Stone Cravings&Classical Gardens, China
  3. Chinese traditional Ritual Paper Motif Archive: Initiation & Project Execution, China&Malaysia
  4. A Dragon by the Pond- Community Public Education Programme, China
  5. “字由字在 Characters at Ease”: Chaozhou in Writing- Collaborative Special Exhibition, Chaozhou Art Museum, China
  6. Li-Gong-Keng She Ethnic Village: Immersive Residency, Field Research & Cultural Co-Creation, China
  7. Du Tiankai Special Music & Poetry Evening, China
  8. Teochew Metal-Rod Puppet Theatre Workshop, China
  9. Public Aesthetic Education: Old Street Urban Texture Documentation, China

Spatial Milestones
  1. Co-funded the NAFA Chinese Society, Singapore
  2. Founded the independent Magazine Teochew Echo回南天, China


2023


Curator

  1. “XYZ Coordinates”: International Toilet Art Week, China
  2. Depth of the Chair: Photography, Installation & Moving Image, China

Event Planning & Director
  1. Peach Oolong Band Live, China
  2. Jazz Trio Concert, China
  3. 4th Teochew language Competition Grand Finals(Global Live Broadcast), China
  4. Barefoot Poetry Gathering, China
  5. Fetal Cry: Treehouse Party, China
  6. From Greece to Xikou, China
  7. “Roots at the Village Foot”: Rural Revitalisation Project-Xikou8th Villages, China
  8. Vision Youth Awards 20th-Chaozhou Edition, China
  9. On the Margins: A Cultural Week from the Edge of the Province and the Nation, China
  10. “Roots at the village Foot” Rural Revitalisation Project-Chunguang Village, China
  11. Film Screening & Discussion, China
  12. Chaozhou Has NO “Yiah Lao Yah” Live Performance, China

Spatial Milestones


2022


Curator

  1. Unanswered: A Community-Based Art Experiment, China

  2. Figuring It Out: A Pop-up Reflection Exhibition, China

Event Planning & Director

  1. Autumn Program, China
  2. Urban Escape Project: Creative Market & Cultural Week, China

About
Email
Instagram

©2026 CAI BOXUAN