Chinese feature film awarded at Cairo Int’l Film Festival

Cairo: Chinese film Brief History of a Family won the Network for the Promotion of the Asia Pacific Cinema Award as the best Asian feature film at the 45th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) concluded here.

“This is my first feature film … It’s a great experience. In all the competitions here, it was the only feature-length Chinese language film. So, that’s very special and I’m very happy to win the award,” Lin Jianjie, the director, told Xinhua after receiving the award.

“What I want to do is to bring the Chinese film on the international stage. I think this is a very great achievement for the film,” he added.

The film tells the story of a Chinese middle-class family and their son’s mysterious friend, with a focus on the bonds between family members.

The jury statement said the film demonstrated a subtle exploration of emotions and the use of imagery and sound design. “They told me it doesn’t look like a filmmaker’s first feature. It’s very mature, and it has a very distinct artistic vision,” Lin told Xinhua.

The Chinese feature will be screened on Saturday at one of the theaters of Cairo Opera House, where the 45th CIFF was held.

This year’s CIFF saw a strong presence of Chinese films. A highlight of the event was the Chinese Cinema Week, during which seven Chinese features were screened. Among these was Decoded, directed by Chen Sicheng, who received the CIFF’s Golden Pyramid honorary award.

“China has a great cinema industry for a long time, and we used to watch Chinese films while learning filmmaking,” said Egyptian film director Khaled El-Hagar, a jury member of the International Critics’ Week Competition.

“It is important for the Egyptian and Arab audience to watch films from different cultures such as China, India, and other Asian countries, not just European and American films,” he told Xinhua, describing Brief History of a Family as “very interesting and intriguing.”

During the ten-day festival, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the CIFF and the Beijing International Film Festival to boost cooperation between the two sides in relevant areas.

“Egypt and China have very strong relations for long decades, especially in the field of arts. In fact, the cinematic and artistic experiences of both countries reflect their civilizations and show a similarity in their dramatic style,” Egyptian Minister of Culture Ahmed Fouad Hanno told reporters during the closing ceremony.

He added that this artistic cooperation and closeness between Egypt and China would certainly provide a boost to bilateral cultural exchange.

As for the main International Competition of the CIFF, the Romanian film The New Year That Never Came, directed by Bogdan Muresanu, won the top Golden Pyramid Award, while Russia’s Postmarks and Brazil’s Malu got the Silver Pyramid and the Bronze Pyramid, respectively.

Launched in 1976, the CIFF is one of the oldest film festivals in the Arab world, Africa, and the Middle East. This year’s edition featured around 190 films from more than 70 countries and regions.