At the Chinese Film Festival Cairo, part of the 2018 Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) held from Nov 20 to 29 in Cairo, Egypt, four Chinese films on ethnic groups, including The Grand Song from Southwest China's Guizhou province, were screened.

Directed by Chou Chou, a Dong ethnic group director from Guizhou, The Grand Song presents a love story with Dong ethnic group culture and over 1,000 traditional songs covering nearly all categories of Dong choir.

Chou Chou (wearing an ethnic costume)poses for a group photo with representatives from China and Egypt. [Photo/todayguizhou.com]

According to Chou Chou, the purpose of filming The Grand Song was to reveal the charms and the pursuit of happiness of the Dong ethnic group, who live in the remote mountains of Guizhou.

She hopes The Grand Song will teach viewers more about Guizhou, and become a means of cultural exchange beyond borders, languages and races.

Rao Shuguang, secretary general of the China Film Association, pointed out that with the international platform of CIFF, Chinese filmmakers can have efficient exchange and cooperation with the Egyptian film industry.

Egyptian fans take a photo with Chou Chou (C). [Photo/todayguizhou.com]

Shi Yuewen, cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy to Egypt, acknowledged the quality of the emerging films on?ethnic groups?in China, and believes that these films will strike a chord in Egypt, a country which also has ancient history and multiple ethnic cultures.

CIFF is one of the highest level film festivals in the world, and one of the largest ones in Africa. It is an annual international competitive feature film festival first established in 1976.

Chinese films have participated in CIFF since 1977, including a series of elite films such as From Victory to Victory (Nanzheng Beizhan), Hibiscus Town (Furong?Zhen)?and Moonlight on the Second Spring (Erquan Yingyue). The film Those Left Behind (Liushou Nvshi) won the Golden Pyramid at the 1992 CIFF.

Chou Chou takes a photo with Mohamed Hefzy, chairman of CIFF. [Photo/todayguizhou.com]