24-10-2012

FNE at CentEast: China-Europe Film Promotion Project Launched at Warsaw

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    WARSAW: The Warsaw Film Festival and the Chinese company Film Factory have announced a joint project to facilitate film exchanges between Europe and China.

    The China-Europe Film Promotion Project (CEFPP) project was launched at the CentEast Market Warsaw (www.centeast.org) held during the Warsaw Film Festival (www.wfff.pl).

    CEFPP’s Eastern European partners are the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (www.poff.ee) and the Baltic Event (www.be.poff.ee), Russia’s Red Square Screenings (www.rac-cb.com), Bulgaria’s Sofia International Film Festival (www.siff.bg) and Sofia Meetings (www.siff.bg), and Romania’s Transylvania International Film Festival (www.tiff.ro) and Romanian Days.

    WFF director Stefan Laudyn initiated this project with Et Hu, the founder of Film Factory, a leading organization of independent filmmakers in China. "We are not hoping for success overnight, but we do plan for the next ten years. Each year we will also select a package of the best European films for our Chinese partner, who will decide which to order for festivals or distribution," Laudyn said.

    The main goal is to "make quality films from China and their makers part of the international cultural scene and to open international distribution channels … to introduce quality films from Europe to Chinese audiences, and to open Chinese distribution channels to these films." The WFF has already moved forward on the project during the 2012 edition of the festival, with seven new feature films by independent Chinese directors made available to film professionals present on the international market.