Singapore holds China Film Festival

The China Film Festival organized by Singapore's Media Development Authority kicked off at a local cinema on Monday as part of the inaugural media week ScreenSingapore.

The film festival opened with the critically acclaimed Deep in the Clouds, a love story set in the remote mountains of southwestern China. It is directed by Liu Jie and swept four awards at the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival last year.

Other films to be featured include The Piano in The Factory, Walking to School and The Dreams of Jinsha. The last to be aired will be Eternal Moment, a box office hit in China directed by Zhang Yibai.

Film has come to be bridge of cultural exchanges between Singapore and China, and the two countries have signed an agreement on co-production of films, said Sam Tan, senior parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Development, Youth and Sports.

Wang Fenglin, vice president and secretary general of China Film Producers' Association, said China now produces over 700 films a year, with the box office worth 10 billion yuan (1.5 billion U.S. dollars).

The 2011 China Film Festival is organized by the Media Development Authority of Singapore with the support of the Film Bureau under China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).

Following the 2011 China Film Festival in Singapore, China will host a Singapore Film Festival next year.

It was the second time that both parties are collaborating to host film festivals in each other's country.

Source: Xinhua

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