China Film Festival returns to Singapore

Singapore - A selection of five Chinese feature films, including China’s most expensive animated feature, will debut in Singapore’s cinemas as part of the 2011 China Film Festival taking place alongside ScreenSingapore this June.

The five-day China Film Festival will open on June 6 with the critically acclaimed Deep in the Clouds (碧罗雪山), a love story set in the remote mountains directed by Liu Jie, which swept four awards at the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival last year, including Best Director, Best Music, Jury Grand Prize and Special Jury Prize. It will close on June 10 with Eternal Moment (将爱情进行到底), a box office hit in China directed by Zhang Yibai and produced by popular actor Li Yapeng, who also starred in the film opposite top-rated actress Xu Jinglei.

The film selection also includes The Piano in The Factory (钢的琴), whose male lead clinched the Best Actor Award at the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival and Walking to School (走路上学), which was conferred Best Children’s Film at several festivals.

Completing the line-up is The Dreams of Jinsha (梦回金沙城), a hand-drawn animation masterpiece that took five years and US$11 million to complete, and which was one of 15 films to qualify for the Best Animation Feature at this year’s Oscars. Together, these five films present a snapshot of China’s vibrant and diverse film industry and highlight a new generation of filmmakers exploring a variety of genres including romance, drama and animation.

The 2011 China Film Festival is organised by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) and supported by the Film Bureau under China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), with the aim of promoting film exchanges between the two countries which signed a bilateral film co-production treaty last year.

Following the 2011 China Film Festival in Singapore, China will host a Singapore Film Festival next year.