It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the outstanding Chinese film production of the past decades to the domestic audience and Chinese viewers in the Imagery Chinese Film Week, which would provide a platform for professionals to start film dialogues and collaborations. The event will be held in Budapest between 24 and 31 May this year, and some of the films screened in the capital will also be screened in Debrecen on 1 June. The programme of eight films will feature timeless classics and recent blockbusters, alongside exciting talks and accompanying events. Three filmmakers, Xie Fei, Li Shaohong and Qiao Liang, one of the film's cinematographers Zeng Nianping, renowned international scholar Chris Berry from King's College London and Wang Yao, a lecturer at the Beijing Film Academy, will also be in Hungary for the Imagery Chinese Film Week.
"It was my years in Beijing and my studies at the Beijing Film Academy that prompted me to start organising Chinese Film Week in Hungary. The fact that many people in Hungary only know China from economic and political news, or from books about its thousands of years old culture, was an important motivation. However, the reality experienced outside is much more nuanced and tangible. People there live their daily lives in the same way as anywhere else in the world. Films are much better at capturing the experience of China that the visitor has. I am confident that with the help of the invited guests from China, we can bring the filmmakers of the two countries closer together, which will benefit both Chinese and Hungarian filmmakers and viewers. It would be a shame to miss out on China as a potential partner and market." - said Dr. Viktória Váradi, the main organiser of the Imagery Chinese Film Week. He added that he and his team work year after year to bring the classic and modern masterpieces of the Chinese film industry to the attention of many Hungarian viewers, film fans, Asian culture lovers, language learners, film educators, active filmmakers and the Chinese community living in Hungary during this week.
The organisers of the Imagery Chinese Film Week 2025 are expecting the public to meet the makers of the films and many representatives of the Chinese film industry at the Uránia Cinema in Budapest between 24 and 30 May 2025, and at the Apollo Cinema in Debrecen on 1 June. The event will also welcome award-winning director Xie Fei, former Vice Rector of Education at the Beijing Film Academy, film director Qiao Liang, Wang Yao, a lecturer at the Beijing Film Academy, and Chris Berry, an internationally renowned expert on Chinese cinema. Su Tong, author of the novel "Hongfen" (Petulia's Rouge Tin), whose adaptation is also a work of cinematic history and is included in this year's programme of the Chinese Film Week in China under the title Powder, will be a guest of the Contemporary Chinese Book Club. The film's director, Li Shaohong, and cinematographer, Zeng Nianping, will also be attending the event.
This year's event series was supported by the National Film Institute, the Chinese Film Office, the Chinese Embassy in Budapest, the Chinese Film Archive, the Chinese Cultural Centre in Budapest, the Beijing Film Academy and the Friends of the Hungarian-Chinese Youth Association, and sponsored by China UnionPay. Professional collaborators are the Contemporary Chinese Book Club and the Hungarian-Chinese Friendship Society. The programme in Debrecen was organised in cooperation with the City of Debrecen, sponsored by EVE Power and the Confucius Institute of the University of Debrecen. The main organiser of the film week is Imázsia Nonprofit Ltd.
As a precursor to the event, you can already see and hear the 12-part Imázsia podcast series in Hungarian, in which Dr. Viktória Váradi talks to film directors, producers, film experts, researchers, translators, public figures and other interesting and successful people about their experiences and connections to China.
