The Contemporary Chinese Movie show made its debut in Paris on Mar. 15 and got a warm response form French audience.
The event is jointly sponsored by the China State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Association of French and Chinese Culture.
Shown in the Scribe Cinema, where the first film of the world was projected by Frenchmen in 1895, the film Life Show drew a large crowd of ardent viewers who packed the hall.
The film received warm applause. After watching the movie, many viewers told reporters that they had not anticipated Chinese films to be so remarkable and the performance of actors and actresses so extraordinary.
Many viewers said that the movie presented to them a picture of the lives of the Chinese people very different from their past knowledge, and they would come for more Chinese movies during the film show.
Huo Jianqi, director of the film Life Show, and Tao Hong, the leading actress participated in the initial show and communicated with the audience.
Besides Life show, the other 10 excellent Chinese films, such as Who Cares, the Road Home, and cartoon movie Lotus Lantern, will also be on stage during the show, which will last two weeks.
To honor the occasion of so many Chinese movies' landing in France, the cradle of films, the director of the France State Film Center and Chinese Ambassador to France, Zhao Jinjun, attended the opening ceremony of the show.
Zhao expressed his hope that the current film show could present to French audience a new picture of China so as to promote better understanding and communication between the two peoples.
Xu Guangchun, director of the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, also sent a congratulation telegram in honor of the show.
In the message, he said that both China and France are great film producers. With the strengthening of Sino-French friendship, the cooperation in and exchange of the film industry of the two countries gained marked development. The film show, coinciding with the Year of Chinese Culture in France, will undoubtedly add new luster to the event.
(CCTV.com March 17, 2004)
