The audience watch a screening at the inauguration for the Special Screenings of the Golden Rooster Film Festival held at the Pathé Gare du Sud Cinema in Nice, France, on July 12, 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Sun Yuhan

To mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France, as well as the 10th anniversary of establishing sister city ties between Xiamen and Nice, the Special Screenings of the Golden Rooster Film Festival kicked off at the Pathé Gare du Sud Cinema in Nice, France, on Friday.

The Golden Rooster Awards, along with the Hundred Flowers Awards and Huabiao Film Awards, is regarded as one of China's top film awards. The 2024 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival is set be held in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, in November. 

The Special Screenings of the Golden Rooster Film Festival in Nice, which runs from Friday to Thursday, aims to deepen the cultural and cinematic exchanges between China and France, as well as explore new possibilities for cooperation in these fields.

The Chinese animated film Chang An was screened as the opening film. Released in July 2023, the summer holiday blockbuster depicts the stories of the "Immortal Poet" Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and won the Best Animation award at the 36th Golden Rooster Awards in November of that year. 

"The film is about the legendary romantic poet and his peers from the Tang Dynasty, an age of flourishing literature. China and France are both very romantic and poetic countries with rich literary heritage that have long-standing traditions of exchanges and mutual learning," Yuan Xuepeng, executive director and general manager of the Xiamen Film Festival Company, the organizer of the special screenings, told the Global Times when explaining the reasons for picking this animated feature. 

Across mountains and rivers, poetry can resonate between different countries and civilizations. Overseas audiences will be able to appreciate the profound Chinese cultural heritage and aesthetic connotations of Chang An and enjoy the beauty of Chinese culture. It will allow exchanges between the two sister cities take root in the hearts of the people, said Yuan.

During the special screenings, two other Chinese films will be showed in Nice, sports drama Ping Pong: The Triumph and a family drama, He is My Brother, both released in 2023. 

"The two films were both shot and produced in Xiamen. They are full of Xiamen elements and represent the new achievements of the continuous development of Xiamen's film and television industry. We look forward to connecting the world with cinema, allowing more overseas audiences to appreciate the cultural landscape of Xiamen and experience Chinese stories in the new era," said Yuan.

Despite their geographical distance, Nice, the coastal resort city in southern France, and Xiamen, known as "the garden of the sea," share many similarities in urban scenery, history and culture. 

"We share many points in common with Xiamen," Florent-Serge Stora, director of international and Mediterranean relations for the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis, told the Global Times. 

Stora noted that the two cities boast rich tourism resources composed of abundant natural and cultural heritage with international influence. They both have the capacity, supportive policy and extensive experiences in hosting high-level and large-scale conferences, meetings of various types or sports events. He pointed to the organization of the Xiamen-Nice International Carnival 2017 as an example, praising it as "a unique and magical exchange."

"This year is special. We are going to sign an amendment to give even more strength to our sister city ties thanks to four new work themes which respond to current challenges: UNESCO World Heritage, tourism, sustainable development and culture. Our relations with Xiamen are evolving dynamically thanks to a lasting friendship and a mutual desire to give full meaning to our sister city ties," said Stora.