Film week aims to strengthen cultural exchanges with UAE

ABU DHABI — The 6th China Film Week in the United Arab Emirates opened in late November at VOX Cinemas in Yas Mall with an exclusive screening of the Chinese film Panda Plan.

The film is an action comedy about a panda's rescue from a criminal plan. Its lead actor Jackie Chan greeted the UAE audience via video and the film's staff brought panda toys and postcards as gifts for the film week.

The event ran over seven days and was launched with a ceremony with over 200 attendees, including government officials, filmmakers, film enthusiasts and diplomats from various countries.

"Film is an art of light and aesthetics and a key medium for the exchanges of civilizations," Chinese Ambassador to the UAE Zhang Yiming says in his opening remarks.

"The China Film Week has evolved into an important cultural event for fostering mutual understanding between our peoples. We look forward to deepening our cooperation in film, music and art to strengthen the bonds of cultural exchanges," Zhang adds.

During the opening ceremony, professionals of the UAE and Chinese film industries held a forum discussing ways to enhance film exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

Organized by the Chinese embassy in the UAE and the China Film Administration with support from the China Cultural Center in the UAE and China Film Archive, the film week screened 10 Chinese films, including comedies YOLO and Successor, as well as Decoded and A Tapestry of a Legendary Land.

Lu Liang, deputy head of the film administration, says the film week has become a brand event among the two countries' active and fruitful people-to-people exchanges.

The film week was held to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-UAE diplomatic relations and invite audiences to experience acclaimed Chinese films to become immersed in modern-day Chinese culture.

Xinhua