On 25th November, during the 21st Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) of Estonia, the Chinese Embassy in Estonia and Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) organized a special screening event for Chinese film “The Conformist” at Coca-Cola Plaza Forum Cinema in Tallinn. The film was recommended by SIFF and selected by PÖFF.
In his opening remarks, Chinese Ambassador to Estonia Mr. Qu Zhe expressed his satisfaction on cultural cooperation between China and Estonia. “Thanks to frequent exchanges and contacts between Chinese and Estonian cultural organizations, the cultural cooperation between our two countries has been very active and successful,” the Ambassador said. He pointed out that cultural exchange is the highlight of bilateral relations and plays an important role in promoting mutual understanding between the Chinese and Estonian peoples. The Ambassador also commended the successful cooperation between SIFF and PÖFF and hoped both sides will further strengthen their win-win cooperation to bring more benefits to the people.
The Deputy Director of SIFF Wang Ye and adviser of PÖFF Cheng-Sim Lim gave a brief overview of the film and the cooperation between SIFF and PÖFF for the past a few years. They expressed strong interests in working together as partners to further enhance cooperation and make both film festivals more successful.
Started in 1997, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has grown into one of the biggest film festivals in Northern Europe. As of 2014 the festival holds the FIAPF accreditation for holding an international competition programme which puts the festival into the so-called A-category of film festivals. The Shanghai International Film Festival, also one of the fifteen A-category of international film festivals accredited by FIAPF, established cooperation with PÖFF in recent years. The two sides signed two documents that will enhance strategic cooperation on film and culture exchange within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative this year. In 2016, two Chinese films recommended by SIFF and selected by PÖFF were screened during PÖFF 20. “The Conformist” screened this year was one of the candidate films for the 20th SIFF Golden Goblet Award and the leading actor Huang Bo won the Award of Best Actor.
