Team Cafe
A country with a wealth of heritage,
history and culture, China is this year’s Country Focus at the 45th
International Film Festival of India. With nine new film productions to be
screened at the festival, the Chinese delegation comprising 24 representatives
including Hollywood actress Zhang Ziyi was present at the inauguration of the
Country Focus section.
Bimal Julka, Secretary of Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, India gave a warm welcome to the Chinese
delegation. The films that will be screened for the festival include ‘Beijing
Blues’ which has won three Golden Horse Awards and ‘Feng Shui’ which was
awarded the best Actress award at the Beijing Film Festival.
Zhang Ziyi and Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the
lead actors of the closing film of the festival, ‘The Grandmaster’, expressed
their joy and gratitude on being invited to India. “The film is directed by
Wong Kar-Wai but it involves professionals from China, Europe and the US which
goes to highlight the fact that international cultural exchanges are possible.
I am honoured to be here,” said Tony, while Zhang Ziyi added, “The dance
performance at the inaugural function of IFFI opened my eyes to the beautiful
dances and culture of India. China is known for martial arts which are
gorgeous. Imagine if we combined these art forms; it would be beautiful.”
The festival opened with the film, “Finding
Mr Right’ which is directed by Xue Xiaolu, who said, “Indian films have
inspired me since I was a little girl, and recently, the film ‘3 Idiots’ helped
me understand modern Indian culture. I believe that India and China have
different cultures and languages which can be bridged through movies.”
