BFI, BAFTA continue to woo China
- Prince William gifts BAFTA mask replica, print of Nankin Road
After signing a landmark film co-production treaty with China, the UK film industry continues to woo the country. Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, who is also President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), has presented a BAFTA award to the Shanghai Film Museum as a donation to the museum’s collection. The award, the BAFTA mask, is a replica of the first BAFTA awarded to Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, for Raise the Red Lantern in the Film Not in the English Language category in 1993.
BAFTA Chief Executive Amanda Berry said, “We look forward to establishing even greater ties with the industry through our future activity in China.”
Prince William also presented one of the first films of China to survive anywhere in the world, Nankin Road, Shanghai (1901) from the British Film Institute (BFI) National Archive, to Ren Zhonglun, Chairman and President of Shanghai Film Group Co. Ltd. with Miao Xiaotian, President of the China Film Corporation, on behalf of China. The film can was presented to them at the Shanghai premier of British film Paddington [+see also:
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making of
film profile] during the GREAT Festival of Creativity, Shanghai.
Amanda Nevill, BFI CEO said, “This rare, carefully restored archive film from the BFI National Archive shines a light on a moment in China’s history - captured on film. It is especially symbolic to present this to Chinese audiences as the UK’s cultural handshake with China and affirms our commitment to a long term relationship of collaboration between our nations, forging industrial links and deepening cultural understanding.”
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