XI'AN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- With increasingly frequent film industry exchanges among Belt and Road countries, the ongoing 7th Silk Road International Film Festival has highlighted the collaborative production of feature films, documentaries and animations.
A total of 17 specially recommended movies, including "Yellow Cat," "Sunless Shadows," "Persian Lessons" and other co-productions, were selected out of more than 3,500 contenders from 116 countries and regions by renowned professionals.
The six-day event held in Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, will last until Oct. 16 and over 500 films from home and abroad are expected to be screened at outdoor venues, in cinemas, and on online platforms.
Of the 102 films that will be screened in cinemas, more than 70 percent are from countries and regions along the Belt and Road, according to organizers.
Movies from different countries and cultural backgrounds are coming together at the festival, presenting different ways and styles of storytelling with rich diversity, said Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, a two-time Oscar-winner and the artistic director of a special recommendation group at the event.
Many industry practitioners attended the event online rather than in person due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Considering the film industry's situation under the pandemic, many participants of this year's festival have expressed their hopes that collaboration can lead the industry out of the dark.
Joachim Ng, director of Media & Ecosystem Development at the Singapore Film Commission, said that Singapore has cooperated with China and other countries to strengthen the exchange of film talent, and is looking forward to jointly promoting the development of the industry through innovative cooperation.
Shaanxi is home to the Terracotta Warriors and the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. First held in 2014, the Silk Road International Film Festival is hosted annually by Shaanxi and east China's Fujian Province in turn.
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