French director Jean Jacques Annaud, who is known by Chinese movie fans for his movie The Lover, an adaptation of Maguerite Duras' novel of the same name, and Wolf Totem, a Sino-French production, gives a speech in the opening ceremony of the 2019 French Film Week on Oct 21. [Photo by Dong Zhigang]

The opening ceremony of the 2019 French Film Week took place at Qingdao's 1907 Light and Shadow Club, the oldest commercial cinema in China, on Oct 21.

French director Jean Jacques Annaud, known by Chinese movie fans for his movie The Lover, an adaptation of Maguerite Duras' novel of the same name, and Wolf Totem, a Sino-French production, attended the opening ceremony. Famous Chinese actors such as Ken Tong, Wang Xuebin and Zhao Baole were in attendance as well.

The event, lasting from Oct 21 to Oct 24, is co-sponsored by the Qingdao municipal culture and tourism bureau, the Shinan district government and the Sino-French Filmmaker Association.

More than 50 famous Chinese and French film directors, actors and film professionals were invited to the event, and nearly 100 professionals in cultural tourism, film and television, and fashion will also attend.

The activities will include film forums, a conference on culture exchanges, an exhibition of French film posters and photos, tourism promotions and trade fairs.

During the festival's four days, 10 French and Sino-French co-produced films including Playtime, Paris, I Love You, Don't Look Now and The Belier Family will be shown all day long for free at the city's four cinemas – the Hengdian Theater, the Jinyi Cinemas, the Dashang Cineplex, and the Chinese Cinema.

The history of Sino-French cooperation in film production dates back over 60 years to the first co-production, The Magic of the Kite, in 1958. In recent years, a series of coproduced works including Seek Mc Cartney and Wolf Totem received favorable responses from the public.

Coproducing isn't just about business but also serves cultural and personnel exchanges. The 2019 French Film Week is considered an opportunity to expand mutual exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese and French film industries and lead the international development of Qingdao's film industry in the future.