While we are co-presenting Chinese Cinema Season in the UK, our friend, Shanghai Art Film Federation will launch a British Film Masters Season in March across four cinemas in Shanghai (March 6 – 21).

This is the 4th edition of British Film Masters Season in Shanghai. The previous seasons were conducted in 2016, 2017 and 2019 retrospectively. This is a programme fully funded and supported by the Shanghai local government, its Shanghai Film Bureau and it receives no funding from the UK.

As we continue to advocate, in particular via our active media commentary writing, stakeholders in the UK should start funding regular film exhibition programme in China across different cities. This is not only a way to engage Chinese citizens with British culture via the medium of film, but also an opportunity to showcase talents from the British film industry.

For this year’s programme, it is curated entirely by the team at Shanghai Art Film Federation, featuring the most well-known classics all time:

  1. The Brilliant Biograph: Earliest Moving Images of Europe (1897-1902) [4K restoration, 2020], *Asia Premiere*
  2. The Third Man (1949) [4K restoration], *China Premiere*
  3. The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) [4K restoration],*China Premiere*
  4. The Lady Killers (1955) [4K restoration], *Asia Premiere*
  5. Peeping Tom (1960)
  6. The Servant (1963) [2K restoration]
  7. The Go-Between (1971)
  8. Howards End (1992) [2K restoration],*Asia Premiere*
  9. The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)

The Season’s tickets went sale on February 28 at 12:00 pm. To follow Shanghai International Film Festival’s very common reception when it comes to foreign film exhibition, most screenings were sold out within minutes.

While we are working hard to promote our Chinese Cinema Season here in the UK with partners, Shanghai film fans and their enthusiasm toward British cinema make a huge contrast, comparing to British audience’s reception of Chinese-language films.

We wish our friends in Shanghai every success with their Season, and we shall also work harder with ours over here. Mutual respect!