'Chinese Film Week' underway in Dhaka

The Chinese embassy in Bangladesh is hosting a "Chinese Film Week" in Dhaka from Jan 10 to 18 as part of the 24th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF), headlining the initiative as "2026 Happy Chinese New Year Festival".

The DIFF, which kicked off on Jan 10 with the theme "Aesthetic Cinema, Thoughtful Audience, Enlightened Society", is presenting 245 films from around 90 countries this year.

The latest edition is celebrating "Chinese Film Week" to mark the 120th anniversary of Chinese cinema. The schedule involves the screening of 15 Chinese feature films and short films, showcasing the artistic achievements and contemporary narratives of Chinese cinema in a comprehensive manner.

At the festival's opening ceremony, Lei Xiaopeng, cultural counselor at the Chinese embassy in Bangladesh, emphasized cinema's role as a bridge between cultures. Attendees at the event included a delegation from the Shanghai International Film & TV Festival Center.

The opening film of the 24th DIFF The Journey to No End — directed by Chinese director Chen Xiang — is set in a futurist world, where environmental degradation becomes prevalent and people need to upload their consciousness to live in a data-constructed "New World". In the movie, a 16-year-old teenager, Cheng Qi, has lived with his father since his parents divorced. After his father enters the "New World", the teenager sets off on a journey to find his mother.

According to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper, the DIFF also inaugurated a Chinese film exhibition corner to enhance cultural exchanges between China and Bangladesh.