Guests gather in front of the Kino Babylon prior to the opening ceremony of the 1st Berlin Chinese Film Festival at the Kino Babylon in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 24, 2016. Some 40 Chinese films will take part in the first Berlin Chinese Film Festival held from Feb. 24 to Feb. 27. (Photo: Xinhua/Zhang Fan)
After Chinese film "Crosscurrent" received the widest exposure at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival a few days ago, another wave of Chinese films has taken over Berlin's cinema.
From Feb. 24 to 27, 2016, the Berlin Chinese Film Festival (BCFF) takes place for the first time in the traditional Babylon cinema in the center of Berlin, where about 40 Chinese-language films will be shown.
In addition to movies that are already successful at international film festivals, the BCFF also provides a platform for those films that hardly manage on foreign movie screens apart from the major film festivals, but are of great importance for the cultural understanding between China and Germany.
Daniel from Colombia and Madi from Australia, two among hundreds of spectators who attended the festival opening ceremony on Wednesday, said to Xinhua that they are very interested in Chinese culture, so they decided to watch a Chinese movie together to satisfy their curiosity.
Berlin mayor Michael Mueller welcomed all the Chinese filmmakers to Berlin during the opening ceremony. He said, this film festival will promote more exchange between Germany and China.
According to festival organizers, this film festival includes competition program, documentary program and youth program, while a total of 16 Chinese-language films were selected for the competition program, running for the best feature film award as well as some other awards.
The 10-member jury panel which consists of Chinese and German filmmakers and media professionals decides which films will receive the awards.
The BCFF, organized by the New Century Culture and the Ouzhou Shibao, aims to deliver a wide variety of Chinese feature films, documentaries, blockbusters and low-budget productions to the Berlin public.
