Cinema Night at the Chinese Embassy
Foreign films have the unique capacity of serving as "agents of change"
June 19th, 2017The use of film as a cultural diplomacy tool is not something new. Throughout history, cinema has demonstrated to broadly have the power of breaking barriers more than once. In fact, films are a huge part of what can be called ‘popular culture’, and consequently they play a vital role on how the country and its issues are perceived by a foreign audience.
The Chinese Embassy in Berlin invites all the people interested in China to take part in a cinema night, scheduled for the 26 of June at 19:00. The event will be centered on ‘Feng Shui’, which received several awards, such as the third place at Beijing International Film Festival and has been included among the Top-10 Chinese films of the year.
The plot turns around the struggles of a woman who tries to improve her life despite some very bad social and personal circumstances. The ‘Feng Shui’ is therefore the abstract, the representation of something that simply happens against one’s will, and which gives the message that a soul can born unlucky and it is destined to live in pain forever.
This concept, which is probably absent in the majority of other cultures, has undoubtedly its fascinating side. Contrary to other forms of art, indeed, visual images have the power to depict different lives in an immediate way. The public can for this reason start to reflect on several issues, because what takes place on the screen gives the illusion of actually happening in front of the person who is watching.
In addition, nowadays films are widely accessible thanks to technology, and so an increasing number of people can have access to any kind of movies from around the world. Moreover, cinema has the unique ability to create a platform for social discussion, as it can represent a ground for debate and thus lead to important change.
This is exactly what the Chinese Embassy hopes to achieve with the screening of ‘Feng Shui’. Cinema is improving its role of an ‘ambassador of change’, and can reach outstanding results such as creating social campaigns as well as being a key hub in the field of cross-cultural communication and understanding.
References and Links
- Chinese Chinese
Alessia Salzano, Berlin Global