China Film Festival 2024 brings the magic of Chinese cinema to London

The China Film Festival 2024, hosted by the China Film Administration and organized by the China Film Archive, kicked off on Thursday evening in London.

The festival serves as an important platform to deepen Sino-foreign film cultural exchanges, showcase the development of Chinese films and present a true, multidimensional and panoramic China to the world audience.

Through this festival, British audiences will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the charm of Chinese films, promoting a better understanding of Chinese culture and strengthening bilateral friendship.

Since last year, under the cooperation framework of various diplomatic and cultural mechanisms, China's film industry has been steadily recovering and developing, constantly opening and expanding new ways and modes of cooperation, and taking new steps in foreign co-production and going global.

On the opening night of the festival, One and Only (2023), directed by Da Peng and starring Huang Bo and Wang Yibo, was screened. With its theme of dreams, the film encapsulates the journey of a spirited teenager.

From April 11 to 14 , the festival will screen five Chinese films at the Prince Charles Cinema in central London, including The Wandering Earth 2 (2023), Papa (2023), Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (2023), Lighting Up the Stars (2022) and Love Never Ends (2023).

The Wandering Earth 2, released in the UK on 22 January 2023, has become the highest grossing Chinese-language film at the local box office in the past 15 years.

Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang spoke at the opening ceremony. Counsellor Hua Mei, wife of Ambassador Zheng Zeguang, Deputy Director General of the China Film Administration Luo Yang, Director of Services and Skills at the UK Department for Business and Trade Rupert Daniels and other guests from the Chinese and British film industries attended the event.