In an age of economic globalization, foreign cultures also come within reach. You don't even need to leave your house to learn more about China these days: the medium of film can serve as a cultural mediator, and create access to foreign cultures and societies.
The range of current Chinese productions is huge. In recent years the Chinese film industry has undergone rapid development. China is now the second largest cinema market worldwide, with revenue of 20 billion RMB at box offices in 2013. By 2018 this revenue is expected to double. In 2001 the number of domestically produced films was less than 100, by 2013 this number climbed to more than 600. Cinemas and movie theatres around the country have more than 18,000 screens, which are visited by 600 million viewers.
There aren't very many opportunities to see Chinese films in German cinemas. Even the blockbusters rarely make it to the big screen.
With the aim of bringing the local audience closer to popular Chinese films, the Confucius Institute Munich and the Institute of Chinese Studies at LMU Munich organised the "Münchner China Filmtage" (Munich Chinese Film Days) at the Monopol cinema three times from 2013 to 2015. The programme included successful productions such as "Aftershock", "Let the Bullets Fly", "American Dreams in China", "So Young", "The Grandmaster", "Coming Home", "The Continent", "Lost and Love", "Breakup Buddies", "Massage" and the Berlin International Film Festival award winner "Black Coal, Thin Ice".
In 2016 the Confucius Institute Munich significantly expanded the activities and scope of the film festival. Under the new label "Chinesisches Filmfest München" (Chinese film festival Munich), in 2016 we held the festival at the Gasteig for the first time. The audience enjoyed a top-class selection of the most successful films from the past year, in various genres. All films were shown with the original sound and subtitles. Fringe events such as panel discussions, expert talks, and the opportunity for professional exchanges between filmmakers from China and Germany gave the film festival important added value.
The first Chinese film festival Munich took place from May 25th to 29th, 2016, at the Gasteig (in the library auditorium).
For further information about the Chinese film festival Munich please check the official website.
