As part of China and India's effort to increase bilateral exchange between the two countries, a Chinese film festival was recently inaugurated in the Indian city of Kolkata. The festival will screen a total of seven films, two of which have Indian connection.
In a statement acquired by India Today, Chinese consul-general Ma Zhanwu said, "We want a group of around 10 directors and actors from Tollywood to visit China in the coming months and do an exhibition of Bengali films in one of our cities like Beijing or Shanghai. We will select 4-5 good Bengali films which will be screened during their visit."
The seven films slated to be screened at the Chinese film festival in Kolkata are "The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven," "Shanghai Calling," "Nine-Colored Deer," "So Young," "Not One Less," "Fleet of Time," and the Academy Award-wining masterpiece "The Last Emperor."
According to Xinhua, the film festival was a joint effort between the West Bengal state and the Chinese consulate. Kolkata was chosen to be the venue of the festival as it was widely considered to be the intellectual capital of India where more people are open to international thinking.
The festival kicked off on July 17 and will run for three days. The films will be screened the Nandan multiplex, a cinema complex operated by the local state. As a show of support for the local film festival, a group of Chinese filmmakers and actors were expected to fly to Kolkata and join the festivities, according to India Today.
As a gesture of cultural exchange, Indian filmmakers and organizers of the event are also keen into sharing their films to the Chinese audience. There are plans to create the same cultural exchange of films which will take place in China, but details of it were not yet finalized.
Kolkata, which is formerly known as Calcutta, is widely considered as the birthplace of Bengali cinema.
