Chinese film directors stage week-long festival in Belgian capital

Chinese young film directors and producers pose at the opening ceremony of the one week festival in Brussels on Thursday. [Photo by Fu Jing/China Daily]

Chinese film directors are staging a one-week festival in Brussels, the second edition after last year's screening in the heart of the European Union.

The festival got under way on Thursday.

Twenty young film producers and directors, ranging from 17 to 26 years old, screened their short films for the first time to help Europeans get to see different images of China.

Movie-goes can watch thirteen short films and eight movies in the Flagey, an art house in Brussels.

The youngest one in the group is a high school student aged 17, and the oldest is 26; most of them haven't been to Europe before. Their films primarily reflect Chinese daily life, ranging from the love and tensions among family members, to conflicts between modern livelihoods and nature and tradition.

Monica Urian, a European Commission policy officer, said she loves Chinese culture, practicing kung fu with four of her colleagues every Tuesday evening in their office.

"What impressed me the most are those films about daily life, especially love stories, ‘' said Urian, adding that her favorite is Suzhou River, directed by Lou Ye.

Alex, an Italian lawyer working in Brussels who is a Chinese film fan, and who would only give his first name, said he found traditional values in the movies, which have been almost lost in Europe. He has been watching Chinese films for twenty years, with more than one hundred movies in his collection.

"I am fascinated by the values such as respect for the friends, for the family and the seniors, love and hate at the utmost degree, settling the conflicts before they expose, keeping the given word and accepting fate and destiny without useless complaint."

While for some others who just make their initial contact with Chinese movies, it is sometimes difficult to understand regarding the cultural or historical contexts.

One Belgian lady, who wouldn't give her name, watched a kung fu movie called The Master and said she felt a bit lost because there was too much fighting and too many knives.

Alex commented that Chinese movie makers should avoid repeating a simplistic identity with martial fighting, adding "Chinese culture has much more to offer by far."

"Moving images remain an important bridge to connect our peoples, and there stands the need to make space for more movie festivals of this kind," said Yang Yanyi, ambassador of China Mission to the European Union at the opening of the festival.

The EU's Urian, whose responsibility is specifically cultural diversity and innovation, also wished there would be more platforms for people-to-people dialogue between China and the EU, to make for further understanding and cooperation.

Yuan Mengqian, the head of the young film directors delegation, agreed and said that via the festival, they had also learnt a lot from the European students about their creativity and broader horizons.

"We really benefit from this kind of eye-opening exchanges with our European colleagues and hopefully, we can do better in the future by getting more young students of arts involved," she said.

Yao Yueyang contributed to the story

To contact the reporter: fujing@chinadaily.com.cn