Sharing his love for cinema with thousands of audience members at the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival was "the real experience of that portrayed in Nuovo Cinema Paradiso," said Italian film director Giuseppe Tornatore during his master class at the event.

Tornatore was the jury president for the Golden Goblet main competition at the film festival, which took place from June 13 to 22.

Tornatore watched the 12 competing movies over five days, eliciting memories of his youth when he would watch two or three movies a day, the Italian director told film producer Marco Muller, who moderated the session on June 20 at Shanghai Film City after the screening of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso.

The film is widely loved by Chinese audiences and was one of the first sold-out shows of the festival, with tickets snatched up within an hour last month. Some said they saw it multiple times — the film was one reason they fell in love with cinema.

Tornatore says watching the film with audience members in Shanghai felt like it was not a movie he made 37 years ago, but rather a contemporary film of modern resonance.