French film feast ready for Shandong citizens
chinadaily.com.cn| Updated: October 10, 2019
The 2019 French Film Week will open on Oct 21 at Qingdao's 1907 Light and Shadow Club, the oldest commercial cinema in China.
It will last from Oct 21 to Oct 24, according to the press conference held on Oct 9.
Some 10 French and Sino-French co-produced films including Playtime, Paris, I Love You, Don't Look Now and The Belier Family will be shown all day long for free at the city's four cinemas – the Hengdian Theater, the Jinyi Cinemas, the Dashang Cineplex, and the Chinese Cinema. It is expected that over 10,000 Shandong citizens will enjoy the films during the event.
More than 50 famous Chinese and French film directors, actors and film professionals have been invited to the event, and nearly 100 professionals in cultural tourism, film and television, and fashion will also attend.
The 2019 French Film Week will last from Oct 21 to Oct 24 and present a series of French and Sino-French co-produced films to be shown for free, including Playtime, Paris, I Love You, Don't Look Now and The Belier Family, according to a press conference held on Oct 9. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]
Co-sponsored by Qingdao municipal culture and tourism bureau, Shinan district government and the Sino-French Filmmaker Association, the event will focus on the key words of fashion, brand and cultural tourism activities. The activities will include film forums, a conference on culture exchanges, an exhibition of French film posters and photos, tourism promotions and trade fairs.
In addition, a new Sino-French cultural tourism cooperation project will be launched during the event, with the aim of promoting the integration of Qingdao's film and cultural tourism industries. It will also have a signing ceremony with ESRA, a famous French film academy, to set up a new branch in Qingdao to better introduce foreign cultural tourism and film resources, and to expand mutual exchanges and cooperation in the cultural tourism and film industries.
The organizers hope that the French Film Week will be an opportunity to attract more film companies to shoot films and set up companies in Qingdao, and to comprehensively enhance the city's influence and popularity as a world film capital.
Qingdao is considered as a natural studio with its picturesque landscape. Its film industry is known as a fashionable industry that can be a bridge for promoting the city's image. It is also an important window for Chinese culture and Qingdao to go onto the global stage.
The city has always attached great importance to cooperation and exchanges with the foreign film industry. In 2018, the SCO Film Festival was held in Qingdao. Eight member countries and four observer countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organization brought in 55 films, including the Afghan film Mina Walking, which won the best picture prize at the Golden Seagull Awards.
Filmmakers from member and observer states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization receive the Special Jury Awards at the SCO Film Festival. The awards went to the films Yo'L Bo'Lsin (Uzbekistan), Air Safar (Tajikistan), Mermaid (Iran), Punjab Nahi Jaungi (Pakistan) and Tum-Pabi-Dum (Belarus). [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Starting with the French Film Week, Qingdao plans to launch country-themed film weeks every year. It will be an innovative move to develop the Qingdao film industry internationally and it will explore a brand-new model to fully utilize Qingdao's urban advantages.
The history of Sino-French cooperation in film production dates back to over 60 year ago as the first co-production, The Magic of the Kite, in 1958. And 2019 marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France.
Qingdao is considered as a natural studio with its picturesque landscape. The French Film Week will be an opportunity to attract more film companies to shoot films and set up companies in Qingdao, and to comprehensively enhance the city's influence and popularity as a world film capital. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]