Silver screen takes on a new dimension

Chinese cinema has come out of the shadows in recent years as far as Western audiences are concerned, with an increasing number of movies making it to screens in Europe and the US. Collaboration between Hollywood and the Chinese film industry is also at an all time high as the film moguls of Los Angeles seek to cash in on China's huge box office potential.

But while the Chinese film industry has seen an explosion in size, it remains stunted in quality, at least as far as what Western audiences are fed, according to Chris Berry, professor of film studies at King's College, London.

"At a time when China is emerging as a power that may set the agenda for the world in the future, we all feel we want to know more," he says.

"Cinema can seem to be a quick way to get some of that knowledge. But, of course, we tend to be shown the kind of cinema that fits our existing ideas about China more often than we are shown films that challenge those ideas."

While Europeans are watching more movies from China, they are shielded from much Chinese film, according to Berry.

"Most of the films that have been box office smashes in China have not been released in Europe," he says.

"Although many have been shown at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, which specializes in popular cinema, only the cognoscenti will know about them through this event.

"Furthermore, European attitudes to China's economic rise vary across the continent. In London, I think people see China's wealth as an opportunity. After all, London has been a machine for extracting wealth from foreigners ever since the Romans arrived. But, in my experience, in central Europe, people still see China's success as a threat."