SCO Film Festival: Cooperation and diversity mark inaugural event

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The first SCO Film Festival is in full swing. Delegations from 8 member states and 4 observers have brought their best films to the festival, with the aim of promoting domestic movies while looking for ways to tap into foreign markets. Liu Xinqing reports.

Here's something film lovers shouldn't miss.

The first SCO film festival saw aired notable works from 12 participating countries – most of them on the big screen for the first time.

This event is a rare opportunity for filmmakers and key industry players to reach out and cooperate with each other within the SCO framework.

AMBREEN JAN, DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL PUBLICITY WING PAKISTAN'S MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING "This is really a big breakthrough. China has hosted the first SCO Film Festival, and through this event, we have producers from Pakistan, who belong to very important television channels and production houses, who are going to have the opportunity to build connections."

For countries who want to win international viewers, connections are crucial. China is the second largest film market in the world, but in the past, its connections with SCO members in this field was not promising.

LIU XINQING QINGDAO, SHANDONG "According to official data, only 53 films have been imported from SCO member states over the past five years. That's only a tiny fraction of what China is buying from big filmmakers like the US. Although this organization covers a huge market of 3 billion people, the road ahead for film cooperation is still not easy."

But that situation is changing. Large domestic distributors at the film festival all expressed their interest in introducing more high-quality films from SCO member countries. But for international filmmakers, feeling the pulse of Chinese viewers is key to tapping into the Chinese market.

SHEN HONG, MANAGER OF DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT HUAXIA FILM DISTRIBUTION CO., LTD "We normally choose to distribute films from various countries, with diverse themes and styles. Films that have very messages themes in children's films, art films and inspirational films are doing very well in the domestic box office."

China is both a large film producer and consumer. From 2002 to 2017, the box office in China grew from 1 billion yuan to a staggering 56 billion yuan – marking an exponential growth that has stunned and attracted plenty of filmmakers. This booming market has also opened up new areas of cooperation between China and other SCO members.

SHEN HONG, MANAGER OF DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT HUAXIA FILM DISTRIBUTION CO., LTD "The SCO Film Festival is a great opportunity for us to better understand excellent movies from other SCO members. We have chosen a few films at this festival for domestic distribution, and I hope we can have more similar opportunities like this one to discover high-quality movies."

Movie co-production was a hot-topic at this festival. Representatives brought up the idea of joint production through a more diverse cast of actors. And it's working well.

Promoting common ground while respecting cultural diversity: that is a principle embraced by the Shanghai Spirit. And it's also the secret to winning over viewers of diverse cultural background. Liu Xinqing, CGTN, Qingdao, Shandong province.