Feature: Chinese director delights to win Cairo film award

Chinese director Jia Zhangke said Saturday he was thrilled and honored to win the Excellence Award of the 38th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), one of the most prestigious film gala in Africa and the Middle East.

Frequenting world-renowned film festivals as Cannes and Venice, Jia said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua during this year's CIFF that the award was special because it was awarded by Egypt, a developing country just like China.

"Cannes, Venice and other film festivals held in Western countries are of course centers of the world cinema, but I am happy to find a country with rich history and tradition also approves my works. That makes me glad and honored," the 46-year-old director told Xinhua.

Jia also thanked CIFF because the award is not meant to honor one specific movie of his, but rather commends his whole career.

Born in north China's industrial city of Fenyang, Shanxi, in 1970, Jia Zhangke gained early fame with his first feature fiction film, "Xiao Wu," in 1997. His "Still Life" won the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival in 2006.

A leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema, Jia uses his movies to reveal the love and hate of ordinary Chinese people by artistically depicting the realities of their lives with a poetic flavor.

Visiting Egypt as well as Africa for the first time, the Chinese director said the trip made him feel "nostalgic."

"I found many people sitting outside shisha cafes at Cairo's streets just to kill the time, which arouses my boyhood memory in Shanxi," Jia said. "Then I suddenly realized that both Egypt and China are densely-populated developing countries with long histories."

The similarities between the two countries make Jia confident that Egyptian people will enjoy his two movies screened during the festival, "Mountains May Depart" and "The World."

Shot in 2004, "The World" explores the impacts of urbanization and globalization on traditional Chinese culture, especially those on Chinese young people.

"Just as Beijing, Cairo is a metropolis with a population of 20 million. Young Egyptian people coming from other governorates to live in Cairo may find great empathy with the characters in the movie," said Jia.

"Mountains May Depart" is Jia's latest full-length film. The 2015 fiction movie tells a story of change from 1999 to 2025, at both societal and personal levels, Jia said, adding that change is a common motif for all developing countries, including Egypt and China.

"Movie is all about life - about the problems we have to face in our lives," Jia said. "Good movies must convey this universal humanity to its audience."

As China is the guest honor of this year's CIFF, the festival will showcase 15 Chinese films from over a decade (2001-2015).

Chinese movies screened during the festival consist of action blockbusters as well as art films, which showcase the diversity of contemporary Chinese films, Jia said, adding that he believes those films will better acquaint Egyptian audience with the latest developments in Chinese cinema.

"All these movies focus on one theme: change and how people emotionally react to changes. I sincerely welcome Egyptian people to watch them," Jia said. Endit