History enthusiast Peter Hack likes to point out that motion pictures were introduced to China in the late 19th century, shortly after cinematography was invented.
"The motion picture industry in China in the 1920s and 1930s was based in Shanghai and rivalled Hollywood. I'm sure that is no surprise," he said.
Chinese cinema, building on its rich and deep tradition, is now "revitalized and extremely creative" to once again rival the best that the world has to offer, Hack said.
He was speaking at the Nov 5 Sydney opening of this year's China Film Festival in Australia, which rolled out with crime thriller Traces of Justice.
The festival runs until Nov 10 and includes screenings of other hit movies like family drama Dear You and animation All Wishes Come True! in major Australian cities.
The films in the festival "capture the diversity of modern Chinese cinema", Hack said.
At the Sydney opening of the festival, Wang Chunsheng, China's acting consul general in Sydney, said films can be considered as "snapshots of their times and voices of ordinary people".
The Consulate General in Sydney is co-hosting the festival in the city together with the Chinese Embassy in Australia and the China Film Administration.
Wang said the films this year offer different perspectives on contemporary China, "stories inspired by real-life cases that pay tribute to frontline protectors, films conveying warmth and hopes for peace, a documentary revisiting the memories and deep-rooted ties of overseas Chinese through 'qiaopi' letters sent home by Chinese migrants, and animation reimagining traditional Chinese mythology."
"Films are the windows for Chinese and Australian audiences to understand each other, and also a way for overseas Chinese to reconnect with their homeland and cultural roots," he said.
"We hope these films will bring our people closer and deepen friendship," Wang said.
"The Consulate General of China in Sydney will continue to support exchanges and cooperation between the film industries of our two countries, and encourage filmmakers to build sincere and lasting connections," he added.
Peter Hack said he is looking forward to the animated fantasy film in this year's festival line-up, amid the high-quality reached by Chinese filmmakers in the genre in recent years.
"With its story about the Eight Immortals of Chinese legend, All Wishes Come True! would be good too," he said.
Australian musician John Huie said he hopes to catch more films as part of the festival after watching Traces of Justice, which is directed by Chen Sicheng and adapted from real-life cases solved by Cui Daozhi, a renowned forensics pioneer and revered by many people as China's Sherlock Holmes.
The movie traces the development of Chinese criminal investigation technologies through four major cases spanning decades starting from the early 1970s.
"The movie was very authentic. They really did a lot of good work for its setting in the different time periods and everything about it was perfectly done," Huie said.
"This was very impressive. I'll see more Chinese movies by the director of this film and the others as well."
