-Amid intensive cultural exchange integration
Photo credit: China Global Television Network CGTN
By Lincoln G. Peters
African filmmakers, especially producers, directors, actors and actresses have begun intensifying calls for deeper China-Africa Cooperation in the film production and movie industry, aims at enabling multiculturalism, storytelling, and Cultural exchange integration.
The latest call was made by veteran South African Movie Director Darrell Roodt, who is best known for his Oscar-nominated Foreign language film “Yesterday”. He spoke at the 2025 China-Africa Film Week, where he shared his vision and thoughts for cinematic collaboration across the continent, as part of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo.
Speaking in a video interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Roodt hailed the China-Africa Film cooperation, and urged the need for a deeper cooperation to better tell the history and culture of the both countries. He described the Chinese film industry as advanced and deeply rooted in technology and culture, and outlined a list of Chinese movies and actors he dearly admired. He believes that they are inspiring the global film industry.
His words, “The cultural art of China and South Africa is badly different. However, that makes it very interesting. So you can find the true cultural bridge between the two countries. It’s something unique and that has never been seen before, that will hopefully appeal to china audiences and South African audiences not easy to do but that is what we are going to try and do. We need deeper cooperation between the two countries and continents to further tell stories and promote culture and traditions.”
Director Darrell Roodt expressed his strong desire to see more small Chinese films, human films, and hopes they make more of such. “It’s the same in South Africa, we want to make Hollywood movies but the thing is, Hollywood is Hollywood, we have our own stories. It’s all about the human Spirit and story. It’s about a small story but it has a huge heart. I hope you know and this is what I’m trying to do. Chinese people are amazing, they are very curious, they want to know about the world, find out about the cultural arts of China and South Africa” he said..
The 2025 China-Africa Film week was recently celebrated in China, Changsha City, Hunan Province, featuring five main events, including the official opening ceremony, China-Africa Film screening, the China-Africa Film development forum, a creative exchange tour for filmmakers and China-Africa Film music night.
The event was held under the theme: “Crossing Continents and Oceans, film fosters empathy”. It was graced by high-profile filmmakers, dignitaries, and cinema enthusiasts from China and Africa, showcasing 24 films from both countries, demonstrating mutual understanding, collaboration and culture exchange and cooperation.
The objective of the China-Africa Film is to deepen exchanges and cooperation between China and African filmmakers, using cinema as a cultural bridge and movies as a bridge for storytelling and Cultural heritage promotion. Furthermore, this year’s edition of the event, held at the Kichantow Production facility, marked an important milestone in the 68-year history of Sino-African cinematic exchange, tracing its roots back to the 1957 Egyptian film week in China.
Interestingly, the event’s official opening featured Yesterday, a South African film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards. This informative movie, has been described as a heartfelt tribute to the power of storytelling.
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