Experts claim movies play a leading role in Sino-US relations

HOUSTON - Cultural exchanges and collaborations, especially through the medium of movies, could provide a bridge for building trust and creating opportunities between the United States and China, experts said at a recent film festival in the US city of Houston.

The 52nd WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, which concluded on April 14, saw industry insiders voicing hope that the festival will create a platform for emerging young talent and a doorway to China.

"Movies have a powerful impact within the bilateral relationship between the two countries, because they make a vivid and profound impression on people," David Firestein, founding executive director of the China Public Policy Center at the University of Texas at Austin, said - in fluent Chinese - at the annual film festival's Asia seminar.