Renowned French actress Sophie Marceau recently expressed her admiration for Chinese cinema, drawn by what she sees the growing influence of China's movies around the world.
Marceau, the ambassador of the sixth Hainan Island International Film Festival, has long been hailed as the "French Rose." She gained international recognition at the age of 14 with her breakout role in the film "La Boum."
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Sophie expressed her excitement at being the ambassador for this year's Hainan Island International Film Festival and shared her plans for her involvement during the event.
"I have a lot of interviews and master classes to do. I'm enjoying traveling with cinema and meet other movies. I'm happy to be part of it," said the actress.
Marceau's connection to China dates back to 1985 when she visited with her film "La Boum." In 2014, she appeared on the Spring Festival Gala, singing "La Vie en Rose."
Reflecting on her relationship with China, she shared her appreciation for the warm welcome she has received.
"It just happened. 'La Boum' was a great success in a lot of countries and especially Asia and then China, and I was invited to come here. I had no idea of anything. I just followed the flow. I got here and I felt good, people were so welcoming and so nice. Then we kept in touch. We grew together because I've been around for a while now. I did other movies that also were very much appreciated here, and I was curious to come here and know more about [everything], and so to me it's like a natural story actually," she said.
As one of the first people in the French film industry to visit China and a key figure in promoting exchanges between the China and France film industries, Marceau also spoke highly of the growing popularity of Chinese films in France.
"We're very fond of Chinese movies in France. A lot of them are coming to our festivals. A lot of them are well known all over the world, even the most Chinese and historical [ones]. I'm thinking of 'The Assassin', for example, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, it's very like the ancestral part of China. It has its codes and everything. But the cinematography is wonderful. The way he directs actors, the way he sees the movie. It's like a masterpiece, so we can only be amazed and [Chinese movies] somehow influence us," she said.
The sixth Hainan Island International Film Festival is taking place from Dec 4 to 10 in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, bringing together filmmakers, critics, journalists and movie lovers from around the globe for a cinematic event themed "From Oceans, With Visions".
French actress Sophie Marceau expresses admiration for Chinese cinema
