The first Chinese Documentary Film Festival, a feast for Chinese documentary filmmakers and fans, lifted its curtain on Dec 12 in Zhuhai.

The festival features opening and closing ceremonies, recommendations of Chinese documentary films, themed forums, outdoor filming, and red-carpet events.

Opening ceremony [Photo courtesy Zhuhai Media Group]

Chinese documentary films of strong insight and influence are expected to act as bridges and bonds to show the integrated development of Chinese and world civilizations, the inheritance of traditional Chinese culture, and the touching stories of struggling Chinese people to the whole world.

The gathering in Zhuhai will include professional experts and scholarly researchers into documentary films, as well as directors, filmmakers, and media representatives.

The collection and broadcast exhibition of short videos for the "Impression Zhuhai" program, an important part of this year's festival, started on Sept 26 and has now received more than 200 works from countrywide film and television production institutions, industrial practitioners, university teachers and students, and filmmaking enthusiasts.

Works selected for their excellence will be screened during the closing ceremony to showcase Zhuhai's city image as a "city of youth and vitality."

A person in charge of the festival's organizing committee noted that more and more excellent documentary films are expected to be produced for the public and that the festival is striving to be a benchmark film carnival with public credibility.

The festival is jointly held by the China Film Association (CFA), Central Newsreel & Documentary Film Studio, as well as the Publicity Department of the CPC Zhuhai Municipal Committee, and locally handled by Zhuhai Media Group and CFA's Documentary Film Committee.