A French Film Festival, co-sponsored by the French Embassy in China and Unifrance, will be held in the capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province from February 12 to 13.

 

Chengdu will be the third leg of the festival after Beijing and Shanghai. Seven films including The Child, winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year, will be shown in the city with Chinese subtitles.

 

A delegation led by legendary French director Claude Lelouch will also visit the city during the festival.

 

The festival will start on the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first month of Chinese lunar calendar which falls on February 12 this year. The film festival will be an added attraction to the festivity in the city.

 

China and France cinema have a long history of cooperation that traced back to the 19th century. As bilateral ties developed in recent years, the exchanges on films have become more and more frequent.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2006)