中法文化之春在北京开幕

The Franco-Chinese cultural event "Croisements Festival" has returned to China. 134 events and performances are being staged in Beijing and 23 other cities across China. The festivities include dance, theater, music, contemporary circus, exhibitions and cinema.

The 7th Croisements Festival and the 9th Panorama of French Cinema kicked off in Beijing on Wednesday evening.

France’s Ambassador to China,  Sylvie Bermann , announced the beginning of the event. A delegation of French directors and actors and Chinese cinema celebrities attended the opening ceremony to promote the French films at the festival.

Li Yu, Chinese director, said, "A typical American film follows the same pattern. For example, the story often has a happy ending. But French films have different styles. A lot of French films are romances or art films. It’s hard for the audience to imagine what’s next. I appreciate particularly the New Wave style films that express a humanist and inclusive spirit."

9 new French feature films and 10 short films will be screened from April 11th to June 24th, in the 6 cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Shenyang and Xi’an.

And in the seventh year of the Croisements Festival, all areas of artistic collaboration are represented in a program that will spotlight co-productions between renowned French artists and talented Chinese creators.

The China Central Ballet has invited French choreographer Bertrand d’At for a magical encounter between two cultures brought together by their love of classical dance.

French theater director Yamina Hachemi and renowned Chinese director Wang Xiaoying have created a Chinese adaptation to the "Laughing Man," the famous novel written by Victor Hugo, for the National Theater of China.

The Croisements Festival is above all a series of prestige events. Pianist Jean Efflam Bavouzet will give an exceptional concert in homage to the famous French composer Claude Debussy on the 150th anniversary of his birth.

Taking center stage this year, the talented director, photographer and artist Agnès Varda offers an uNPRecedented retrospective, an exhibition spanning 50 years of work that can be seen over two months in Beijing, Wuhan and Shanghai.

The Croisements Festival was founded in 2006 thanks to the shared desire of French and Chinese authorities to maintain the momentum that arose from the Années croisées, a series of Franco-Chinese cultural exchanges. The festival proposes programming that takes place over a period of more than two months.