French Film Week held in Beijing at ongoing Beijing Int'l Film Festival

The French Film Week is showcasing 30 French movies at cinemas across Beijing from Thursday to April 26.

Jointly sponsored by the China Media Group (CMG) and the Beijing Municipal People's Government, the French Film Week aims to bolster cultural communication between China and France.

During the week, the French movie "A Real Job," which is nominated for this year's Tiantan Award, will be screened.

In addition, cinemas in Beijing are also set to show 29 other French movies in a variety of genres, including "The Rapture," a 2023 drama film, and the classic work of "La Vie en Rose."

The film week is part of the 14th Beijing International Film Festival scheduled from April 18 to 26.

China's movie box office is enjoying a moviegoing frenzy over the May Day holiday, amassing over 900 million yuan in just the first two days of the five-day vacation period.

As of 21:50 Thursday, data from box office tracker Maoyan showed that the holiday, which started on May 1 and will run until May 5, had seen around 913 million yuan (roughly 126.13 million U.S. dollars) in combined revenue from box office sales and presales.

Eight films are featuring on the silver screen during the holiday led by highly anticipated peacekeeping mission-themed film "Formed Police Unit", Hong Kong action crime thriller "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In", and comedy "The Last Frenzy".

"So far, the occupancy rate of the cinema during prime time has reached between 80 percent and 90 percent. Compared with the same period last year, there has been an increase of around 30 percent in the number of moviegoers during the May Day holiday," said Yuan Teng, general manager of a cinema in Yingtan, east China's Jiangxi Province.

Industrial insiders also pointed out that during the holiday, animation films are trending in domestic film industry, fueled by fast-growing demand for family-oriented movies plus a soaring number of young moviegoers.

As of 21:02 Thursday, the animated feature "Spy x Family Code: White", as one of the top-earning films in Japan this year, has earned more than 147.15 million yuan (around 20.33 million U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, "Howl's Moving Castle," a restored version of the 2004 masterpiece by Japanese animation guru Hayao Miyazaki, raked in 76.8 million yuan (about 10.61 million U.S. dollars).