At the recent Cairo International Film Festival, Chinese films won love and praise from both the jury and audiences, says Chinese actress Qin Hailu, a member of the international jury.
"The Fourth Wall is a work by new directors in China, which tells Chinese stories from different perspectives," Qin says. "I believe that the story of modern China, and the emotions and values of modern Chinese people are worthy of being reflected in movies."
During a star-studded closing ceremony of the gala, The Fourth Wall, co-directed by Zhang Chong and Zhang Bo, won the CIFF's Bronze Pyramid award for best first or second work in the official international competition.
"I heard that many students in Egypt are studying Chinese and some people like to watch popular Chinese TV shows which are dubbed into Arabic," Qin says. "It shows that people in other countries and regions have a need for a diverse understanding of China."
At the same time, Qin notes, the film world in the Middle East and Africa also needs opinions and voices from China.
"During the festival, many well-known filmmakers here told me that they were very impressed by the rapid development of the Chinese film industry, and they believed that it is necessary to build a high-quality communication platform to reach each other's film market and resources," she says.
"It may take more time, but the festival is a good place to start," she adds.
Qin says China's economic growth has allowed filmmakers to have more artistic pursuits.
She says Chinese films have witnessed drastic changes in terms of project planning and postproduction in the past decades, noting that "filmmakers in the Middle East and Africa are welcome to bring their own film projects to China for support and cooperation".
The CIFF ran from Nov 20 to 29.
