The Chinese consulate general announced a film festival to be hosted jointly with Nandan from April 17 to 19.
“Ever since I arrived in Calcutta in June 2024, I have received requests to exhibit Chinese films. Recently, Pursuit of Jade (a Chinese historical romance drama) has become very popular globally on Netflix. The last time we organised a film festival was in 2016. So we thought of resuming the event,” said Chinese consul general Xu Wei at a press meet on Friday.
Seven award-winning films on varied subjects will be screened at Nandan 1, and seating will be free and on a first-come, first-served basis
The opening film, Xuan Zang, is a 2016 Sino-Indian co-production on a young monk’s journey to India to study the life of Gautam Buddha and will be screened after the inauguration at 7pm on April 17.
Another film of note is Creation of Gods 1: Kingdom of Storms (2023), a mythological epic which is a visual extravaganza. “It is hailed as China’s Lord of the Rings,” the consul general said of the film that will be screened at 6.30pm on April 18.
The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru (2024) is set against the backdrop of World War II and will be screened on Sunday at 3.30pm. The other films chosen are Like A Rolling Stone, Never Say Never, Love Never Ends and One and Only.
The International Chinese Language Day will be celebrated at the ice skating rink of Modern High School in association with The School of World Languages and St Joan’s School. “There is renewed interest in the Chinese language here with the improvement in bilateral ties,” the consul general said.
There will be cultural performances, calligraphy, paper-cutting, and lantern-making by students learning Chinese.
Flight to Kunming
The weekend will also see the resumption of the Calcutta-Kunming flight operated by China Eastern Airlines that had stopped during the pandemic.
“The flight will operate six days a week from April 18. It will take off from Kunming at 11.55pm local time and land in Calcutta at 12.10am. The return flight will depart at 1.10am and arrive in Kunming at 6.20am, local time. There will be no service on the night of Tuesday-Wednesday,” deputy consul general Qin Yong said.
This will be the third direct flight to China from Calcutta after IndiGo started operating flights to Guangzhou and Shanghai.