Chinese cinema gets Japanese flavor

Increased cinematic exchanges between China and Japan will be bolstered by the release of the coproduced animated film, Flavors of Youth, this month, Xu Fan reports.

With China and Japan signing a treaty on film coproduction earlier this year, the two countries-now the world's second-and third-largest movie markets, respectively-have seen a rise in cinematic exchanges.

From January to August, eight Japanese films-including the Palme d'Or-winning Shoplifters, set to open on Aug 3-have been imported to the Chinese mainland, equaling the total of 2016 and 2017 during the same periods, according to the China Film Distribution and Screening Association.

A bittersweet story about a family of petty crooks, Shoplifters won Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda the top honor at this year's 71st Cannes Film Festival, making it one of the most-anticipated arthouse films for Chinese fans.

The movie also marks the second Kore-eda work to be released in China this year, following his court-themed drama, The Third Murder, which has been screened by China's Nationwide Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas since March 30. Founded in 2016, the alliance consisting of more than 400 theaters specializes in screening art films.