Reading Chuang / Shenzhen Business Daily reporter Du Xiangxiang
On January 15th, the "17th French Film Exhibition (Shenzhen Station)" opened at the Broadway Film Center, and the French Film Exhibition Shenzhen Station will bring 7 French film feature films such as "I Lost My Body", "The Truth", "Sibyl", "Happy Birthday to You", "A Big Drama" and "Good Dream Day Tour" to Shenzhen audiences, hoping that through this screening activity, more and better French films will be brought to China and impress Chinese audiences with romantic and moving images.
The event was hosted by the UniFrance, co-organized by the French Embassy in China, and hosted by the Shenzhen Broadway Film Center and the Shenzhen Paragon Cinema.
Seventeen years have passed since the first French film show was held in 2004. Over the past seventeen years, filmmakers who have come to China through French film screenings include film stars such as Sophie Marceau, Jean Renault, Melville Popo, Virginie Ladoyan, famous directors such as Claude Lelouch, Lauren Guntai, Philippe Garrell, and important Leaders of the French film industry such as Jerome Saidu, President of EMI. They not only brought wonderful French films to Chinese film fans, but also introduced Chinese culture to France, so that the strategic partnership between China and France in the field of film has developed steadily year by year.
In the evening, Bai Jinlin, Cultural Consul of the Consulate General of France in Guangzhou, Huang Zhiqiang, Vice President of the China Film Distribution and Screening Association, Xu Xuelin, Chief of the Publishing and Film Department of the Propaganda Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, Bai Liangyu, Regional Manager of Broadway Shenzhen, Chen Mo, General Manager of Shenzhen CR Vientiane Tiandi Project, Wu Weixiong, Deputy General Manager of Raffles City Shenzhen, Zeng Siyun, Secretary General of Nanshan Publishing and Distribution Industry Association, and many fans and friends in Shenzhen attended and witnessed the opening ceremony of Shenzhen Station.
At the opening ceremony of the evening, Bai Jinlin, Cultural Consul of the French Consulate General in Guangzhou, said in his speech that French cinema has always been popular with Chinese audiences, and as the seventh art originating in France, film has established a close connection between China and France and the two cultures – especially in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen region, where the fan community has never been so concentrated, because it is one of the highest-paid areas in the Chinese film industry.
Huang Zhiqiang, vice president of the China Film Distribution and Projection Association, also delivered a speech at the opening ceremony, affirming the unique artistic atmosphere of French cinema and its impact on world art and culture, and at the same time expressed support for the persistence and efforts of the French film exhibition to promote cultural exchanges between China and France for many years, and expressed the desire of French film screening to be better and better, bringing more excellent French films to Chinese audiences.
The opening film of the Shenzhen station is "I Lost My Body". As Bai Jinlin, cultural consul of the French Consulate General in Guangzhou, said, in this film, the connection between people occupies a central position here, and the film "I Lost My Body" is through an unlikely three-person story, in a unique and compelling way, to explore the connection between people, which resonates with each of us.
The Truth is a mother-daughter affair by Palme d'Or director Hirokazu Kore-eda, who teamed up with two French goddesses, Catherine Deneuve and Juliet Binoche. In addition to "The Truth", French national treasure actress Catherine Deneuve and another "Happy Birthday to You" participated in the screening. Both films focus on the family, telling the rifts and cracks between the family and the preciousness of family affection.
"A Big Drama", "Southern French Sister" and "Good Dream Day Trip" are the three comedy films participating in the exhibition. Emmanuel Kukol, the director of A Great Drama, tries to use the openness of the theatrical stage, the importance of freedom to people, and paradoxically or ironically, the protagonist of his play is a group of prisoners who have lost their freedom.
In contrast, the comedic style of "Southern French Sisters" is more relaxed, and it shows the survival and emotional status of contemporary French youth in the sexual encounter journey of three men driving together, with a lot of laughter. Director Nicolas Bedos's "A Day trip to a good dream", which won the best original screenplay at the 45th César Film Awards in France, is a fantastic and star-studded romantic comedy.
Directed by female director Justin Trier, "Sibil" is a female theme work shortlisted for the main competition section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
This selection of seven recent films is a good time for Shenzhen audiences to enjoy French films on the big screen. The Shenzhen event will last until January 29, and seven wonderful French film works with a total of 28 performances will be screened in the Shenzhen Broadway Film Center and The Shenzhen Paragon Cinema.
Review: Sun Shijian