Mr. Liang Ge, Deputy Director-General of Bureau of Film, State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of China,
Dear Mr. Jonathan Hill, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On the auspicious occasion of the 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU, I am very delighted to host this reception marking the opening of the Chinese Film Festival.
About one year ago, in his address at the College of Europe, President Xi Jinping of China underlined the importance of building a bridge of common cultural prosperity linking the two major civilizations of China and Europe.
Indeed, as China representing in an important way the Eastern civilization and that Europe being the birthplace of the Western civilization, both the two sides are committed to expanding their communication and cultural exchanges to promote "harmony without uniformity" in Chinese terms or "unity in diversity" in EU terms.
This is exactly what this Chinese Film Festival is organized for – to engage with each other, to appreciate each other and to learn from each other.
I take pride in the variety and quality of the movies we've brought to our European audience. The nine movies – Ata, Brotherhood of Blades, Blind Massage, the Nightingale, Police Diary, the Great Hypnotist, No Man's Land, Fleet of Time and Silent Witness, portray in a vivid manner life of the Chinese people and underscore the values, the feelings and the longings that we all share.
One of the movies you will see this noon, Ata, is the maiden work of Director Chakme Rinpoche and a winner of several awards. It tells a story of a sightless child and his mother. It shows the dream of the child of another life different from the disabled ping-pong champion career and how he sees much more than what his mother imagines; and how his mother tries to look into his world of darkness when he vanishes one day and then discovers how to listen, to see and to understand.
I have no doubt that the Chinese Film Festival will generate greater interest that will last way beyond this week. It will inspire us to further promote cultural exchange between China and the EU and attract more European friends to go to China and see with their own eyes the profound and exciting socio-economic transformations in that distant land. And vice versa, we hope more inspiring films will be brought to the screens in China, enabling the Chinese people to appreciate the diversity of cultures in Europe.
Once again, thank you all for coming to today's reception and I wish the 2015 Chinese Film Festival every success.