Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska and Chinese actress Song Jia exchanged views on their art experiences in an online dialogue with the theme of "the identity of cinema" during the ongoing 7th Silk Road International Film Festival on Oct. 12 in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.

(A dialogue between Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska and Chinese actress Song Jia)

Szumowska is one of the most influential Polish directors today. She started her directing career in 1999 with the documentary “Siedem lekcji milosci”, and won the Best Director Award at the Berlin International Film Festival with “Body” in 2015.

Song is famous for her dedication to her roles, winning the Best Actress of the Chinese Film Golden Rooster Award for her outstanding performance in “Falling Flowers” in 2013.

Szumowska and Song shared ideas about film creation and film industry. Although their experiences are completely different, they have one thing in common -- not sticking to the same pattern. They try to create different types of works, bringing more perspectives to the world film scene.

"Technology is changing, audiences are changing, and my worldview values are also changing. Maybe these days I like something, and then my preference will change again in a few days," said Szumowska.

The two exchanged views on the relationship between directors and actors. From the actors view, Song has many different experiences of cooperating with different directors. She believes that "actors have to adapt to the director's different styles and requirements."

(A dialogue between Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska and Chinese actress Song Jia)

As a director, Szumowska also has her own thoughts on casting: "I will select actors based on my own understanding. For some actresses, I really value how they perform in other movies and their general feelings.”

“I won’t say too much but will look at some subtle things. For example, observing the facial expressions and performance details of actors can move me," Szumowska stated.