London calling

A four-day retrospective of Chinese films and culture - Screen China - will be held in London in September. The event will also be China's biggest association with the Mayor's Thames Festival held in the British capital and is a new industry event that seeks to foster creative, business links between British and Chinese film companies.

The Allied China Europe Society and its two Chinese partners - the China Record Cultural Media Company and CTV Audio-Visual (Beijing) International Culture Exchange Centre - are the organizers of the Screen China event, which is being held alongside the British Chinese Film & Television Summit.

The four-day Screen China is also part of the Mayor's Thames Festival - London's only river-focused multi-arts festival and the largest of its kind in the world.

"We will screen 39 recent and popular films at the event. Of this, eight to 10 films will be screened in the shadow of the world-famous Tower Bridge in London," says Huilin Proctor, chief executive of Allied China Europe Society and chair of the organizing committee.

Founded in 2004, the not-for-profit organization aims to promote co-operation across various sectors between China and Europe.

Through this platform, "we want to introduce Chinese films, film personnel and film characters to British and international audiences," Proctor says.

"It's a mutually beneficial exercise. We are not only educating the British audience about Chinese films, but also the Chinese people about the UK film industry," she says.

Some Chinese cultural arts organizations will showcase food and handcraft exhibitions during the event. Also on display would be circuses and other performances that would catch the attention of tourists.

The British Chinese Film & TV Summit, which is being supported by the China Film Co-Production Corporation and run in partnership with the British Film Institute, will take place at the BFI's South Bank venue in London on Sept 15.

"The summit is business to business," she says, adding that it will include panel discussions on a range of topics including co-productions, film financing and distribution.

Prominent speakers at the summit include Julian Fellowes, the writer of Gosford Park and creator of Downton Abbey, Proctor says.

(China Daily European Weekly 05/30/2014 page7)