Sydney Film Festival open with focus on China

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SYDNEY -- With a gala to be opened Wednesday night in Sydney, featuring a hybrid documentary of legendary Australian singer Nick Cave's 20,000th day on earth, the 61st Sydney Film Festival (SFF) has revealed a rich focus on China program featuring six feature films and one short film.

Running from June 4 to June 15 across Sydney, the festival is part of Sydney's cultural fabric and one of the world's longest- running film festivals in the world.

"We've selected the widest variety possible of the best new Chinese films", said SFF Focus on China guest programmer, Shelly Kraicer.

Kraicer, the guest programmer of SFF's Focus on China, is a China-based writer, critic and film curator, who has written for Cinema Scope, Cineaste, The Village Voice and Screen International.

His eclectic selection of Chinese cinema reflects the growing fascination here with Chinese culture.

While China has become Australia's key trading partner -- with two-way trade topping 120 billion US dollars last year accounting for a third of Australia's total exports -- it is the collision of culture in modern China that now holds the torch for so may Australians young and old.