Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman at the red carpet show of the ongoing Beijing International Film Festival. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

"Last year, Beijing topped the list of major cities in the country in terms of the number of films produced, box-office returns and the yearly per capita visits to the cinema," he says.

The festival has also put more focus on international coproductions.

Veteran director Huang Jianxin, also the host of a forum on coproductions at the festival, says China has signed 57 joint programs with American studios this year.

Tornatore, known for his film The Legend of 1900, who has signed a deal to direct a feature for Alibaba Pictures, the film arm of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, tells the forum that cinema can cross cultural and national barriers.

Tornatore, who has worked with American and French filmmakers before, says he has hardly encountered misunderstandings despite the fact that he doesn't speak English and almost no French.