Iran, China to develop cinematic cooperation
The third China Film Week opened at the Abbas Kiarostami Hall of the Farabi Cinema Foundation on May 6. The film event will run through May 10.
It will showcase the works of new-generation Chinese directors, with a total of five films scheduled for screening.
The opening ceremony took place on Saturday evening, featuring the screening of ‘The Captain,’ a disaster-adventure film directed by Andrew Lau.
The four other films in the lineup include ‘Ala Changso’ directed by Sonthar Gyal (May 7), ‘The Climbers’ directed by Daniel Lee (May 8), ‘The Wandering Earth’ directed by Frant Gwo (May 9), and ‘Ash Is Purest White’ directed by Jia Zhangke (May 10).
Chinese Ambassador in Iran Chang Hua, Head of Cinema Organization of Iran Mohammad Khazaei, and CEO of Farabi Cinema Foundation Mehdi Javadi were present at the ceremony.
Hua reminisced about the late Abbas Kiarostami’s visit to China in the last two years of his life to make a film in the Asian country.
He also expressed his gratitude to the head of the cinema organization and the CEO of the Farabi Cinema Foundation for holding the China Film Week in Iran, adding that the rich cultures of Iran and China could foster joint film cooperation between the two countries.
The Chinese envoy noted that Iranian films have entered the Chinese cinema market, and approximately eight hundred million Chinese attended the cinema last year, with the box office of Chinese cinema reaching nearly $8 billion.
He believed this could benefit Iranian cinema, and given the cultural commonalities between the two ancient civilizations, the Chinese audience could appreciate Iranian films and vice versa.
Javadi announced that Iranian Film Week would take place in China in the near future.
Given the significant role of Chinese cinema in the world, Khazaei revealed the foundation’s plan to collaborate with Chinese cinema to produce joint products.
He further highlighted the value-added benefits of Chinese cinema for Iranian cinema and emphasized the positive impact of the disappearance of the unipolar system in world cinema.
Khazaei considered the event a step forward for the cinematic cooperation of countries like Iran and China through the rich cultural capacities of these two ancient civilizations.
The first edition of the China Film Week was held in September 2017 at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, followed by the second edition at Tehran’s Art and Experience Cinema in October 2021.