A photo from the first Shanghai Cooperation Organization Film Festival, which concluded Sunday night in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese film Enter the Forbidden City and Afghani film Mina Walking were recognized as Best Films. Best Director was given to Yosef Baraki, the director of Mina Walking.

The four other awards included Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Actress as well as a Special Jury Award.

As part of the SCO Qingdao summit, the festival opened on June 13 with participation from more than 700 representatives including officials, filmmakers, businessmen and media figures from eight SCO member states and four observer nations.

During the five-day event, a total of 55 films from SCO countries were screened in 10 cinemas in Qingdao a cumulative 265 times, attracting some 50,000 audience members.

The festival also included a cooperation forum, several film promotional events for different countries and other exchange programs.

Beijing Film Academy announced an offer for young filmmakers from SCO countries to join a one-year overseas study program and China Film Co Ltd invited film insiders to come to China for further research and learning.

A total of 12 agreements on film introduction and cooperation among related countries were signed during the festival.

The SCO Film Festival was organized by the State Film Administration and Shandong provincial government, and was hosted by the Qingdao municipal government.

Organizers said in a statement the festival opened a new chapter for film exchange and cooperation among SCO countries, and is bound to make a great contribution to enhancing cultural and interpersonal communication and building a SCO community with a shared future.