Chinese cinema forum held during Venice Film Festival

Film professionals and experts gathered in Venice on Tuesday to discuss the global development of Chinese cinema at a forum held on the sidelines of the Venice International Film Festival.

The China Film Forum, themed "Opportunities and strategies: Chinese cinema in the world," is the first official forum entirely dedicated to the Asian country's film market during the film festival.

The forum focused on the challenges and strategies for the Chinese film industry as well as opportunities for cooperation with foreign film industries.

Chinese and world brilliant filmmakers including Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai, whose thriller Chuangru zhe (Red Amnesia) is up for the Golden Lion award at the festival, and representatives of Italian cinema institutions shared their views on the rising role Chinese cinema plays in the world arena.

For two countries that share a millenary history like Italy and China, there are extraordinary cooperation opportunities to shoot films that can please the audience and be a cultural stimulus at the same time, Qin Hong,Chinese producer of the closing film of the Venice Film Festival "The Golden Era," said at the forum.

Qin said he hoped the forum will serve as a new platform featuring Chinese films at the Venice Film Festival, with an aim to strengthen the voice of Chinese and world valuable directors and inspire the next generation of movie industry practitioners.

Important progress has been made recently to enhance cooperation between China and Italy, Italian film producer Conchita Airoldi said.

"We treasure the collaboration opportunities between the two countries. Just a few months ago, Italy and China signed a co-production agreement, which will bring many new opportunities," she said.

Tuesday's forum was supported by Xinhua International, the Venice Days, an event at the film festival aiming to draw attention to high quality cinema, and ANICA, the association that represents the Italian film and audiovisual industries.

Several Chinese-language films have been presented at the 71st Venice Film Festival, which will end Saturday.

Famous Chinese actress Joan Chen is a member of the international jury that will award the Golden Lion, the highest award given to a film at the Italian festival.