Young film enthusiasts, artists and professionals from China, France and across Europe gathered at the Chinese Cultural Center in Paris last week, to celebrate cinema as a bridge between cultures through screenings and discussions.
As a part of the "Global Dialogue - Toward the Future" youth cultural exchange event, participants discussed films including "Kangxi and Louis XIV", "Wolf Totem", and "Baby in Love" to uncover how cinema reflects history, societies and cross-cultural perspectives.
"For me, making co-productions, like the one I did two years ago that tells the story of the Amphitrite with the title 'Kangxi and Louis XIV', is ultimately not just film collaboration between France and China, but also an intellectual collaboration that recounts a meeting between King Louis XIV and Emperor Kangxi. This meeting marked the first international relationship between France and China," said Gilles Thompson, director of "Kangxi and Louis XIV".
"Today, we celebrate 120 years of Chinese cinema and 130 years of French cinema. We've seen here the importance of cinema on both sides. In fact, it's necessary to have encounters, because the more we experience things together, the more we exchange ideas, the more we find new ways to tell the world's story and to share it," said Nicolas Deschamps, CEO of Realworks, a French media production company.
"I believe that in the exchanges presented today, we see both dialogue and dual perspectives, two viewpoints between France and China, with a dual interest: the interest of discovery and rediscovering our shared histories. For us, in the field of education, what matters is complementarity and reciprocity. Today, the interest here is no longer simply to go one way or the other, but to be able to build and create something together," said Florent Pratlong, a lecturer and director of the Sorbonne School of Management at University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne.
Films co-produced by Chinese and French moviemakers build cultural bridge
