A chance to see a new world

Some of the domestic films being screened at the Beijing event include Apart Together, No Man's Land and Black Coal, Thin Ice. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Film fans have an opportunity to view Chinese movies that have made a mark at the Berlin film festival over the years at an event in Beijing. Xu Fan reports.

Three years after his first tour to Berlin, Liao Fan remembers the chilly night when his noir thriller Black Coal, Thin Ice premiered there. After the screening, he stood alongside the director, Diao Yinan, smoking quietly.

"It was the first time I had seen the film on a big screen. The details were impressive," he says at an event, which is being held in Beijing in conjunction with the ongoing 67th Berlinale International Film Festival.

The event, titled Eyes on Berlin, held by the French Institute, the Goethe-Institut China and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, is showcasing 18 films that were presented at the German festival over the years.

Other domestic films being screened at the ongoing event include Crosscurrent, the Silver Bear winner last year; No Man's Land, a 2014 nominee; the 2016 documentary nominee My Land; and Apart Together, the best screenplay winner at the 60th edition of the festival.

Clemens Treter, director of the Goethe-Institut China, says the Beijing event symbolizes a conversation between Chinese and European cinema, providing locals with an opportunity to see a different world.

Black Coal was the opening film at the Beijing event, which was launched on Feb 10 at the French Institute. The event runs through Feb 28.

Speaking about his Berlin experience, Liao says that he saved the premiere ticket of his film, thinking that it would be "the only thing" he brought home from the 64th Berlin festival, one of the world's most influential movie events.