VALLETTA, May 14 -- 2014 Chinese Film Festival in Malta kicked off Tuesday evening at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta, capital of Malta.

Malta's Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government Owen Bonnici, Minister for Education and Employment Evarist Bartolo, Chinese Ambassador to Malta Cai Jinbiao, Deputy Director of film bureau at the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) Luan Guozhi attended the opening ceremony.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Ambassador Cai introduced that the eight films screened were produced in recent years, covering a wide range of themes, each movie provided a snapshot of China's contemporary social life and showcased latest achievement of Chinese film arts.

Bonnici said that this was the first time ever for the Chinese film festival held in Malta, they were looking forward to watch the films. He was also very glad to see that the Malta Film Commission has been working side by side with Chinese counterpart here in Malta to make sure further collaboration.

The six-day film festival is organized by China Cultural Centre in Malta, in collaboration with Malta Film Commission and St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity.

Eight films in Chinese with English subtitles including Lethal Hostage, The Grandmaster, Finding Mr. Right will be on show during the festival.