Using movies to forge bonds

With 676 films, this cinematic event is doing an admirable job to reinvigorate cultural exchanges among countries along the old network of trade routes and beyond. Raymond Zhou reports.

The five-day Silk Road International Film Festival wrapped up on Sept 23 in Shaanxi's provincial capital Xi'an.

Xi'an, which was known as Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) when it was China's capital, was the starting point of the Silk Road, which went across Central Asia and all the way to Rome. The film festival named after this ancient network of trade routes is an attempt to reinvigorate cultural exchanges among countries along this road and beyond it.