Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and her Russian counterpart Olga Golodets jointly announce the start of the China Film Festival in Moscow, Nov 8, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

With the enhancement of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership, the two countries share ever more exchanges and cooperation in culture, art and film, said Tong Gang, the deputy director of State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of China during the opening ceremony of the China Film Festival in Moscow on Tuesday.

Being held in the Russian capital and Rostov-on-Don, the festival lasts from Nov 8-27. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and her Russian counterpart Olga Golodets attended the opening ceremony in Moscow, and jointly announced the start of the festival.

The ceremony started with Jackie Chan’s new movie Skiptrace, which attracted not only Chinese audiences, but lots of Russian fans of the film star as well.

So popular was the movie, that fans with tickets were gathering and waiting outside the Kocmos Cinema three hours ahead of its showing. But apart from the lucky ones who had tickets, there were many others who did not have tickets standing outside the cinema, just to get a glimpse of Chan.

Nataliya Noskova, a Russian translator, said at present there are not so many Chinese films broadcast in Russia, but the market potential market in Russia is huge, and stars, such as Chan and Jet Li, are extremely popular in Russia.

“Jackie Chan is the most famous Chinese actor in Russia,” she said. “Russian kids have been watching his action movies for decades.”

Vladimir Medinsky, Minister of Culture in Russia, said the fundamentals of the China-Russian film exchange have progressed since President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in 2013 to hold a film festival in each country every other year.

Medinsky said Russian films have won lots of Chinese admirers in the past few years, and the two countries have started to make movies together, telling the stories about both countries.

Tong added lots of films which were shot in cooperation have drawn widespread praise in both countries.

China’s film administration selected seven movies for the 2016 China Film Festival, Tong said.

The atmosphere during the opening ceremony was electric when Chan, the promotional ambassador for the festival, showed up in the cinema. He said China and Russia share common attributes, like the hospitality of their people, both countries cover vast tracts of land, and both have a long history of culture.

Chan said by watching these seven movies and more in the future, Russian people can understand more about Chinese culture and history.

Noskova agreed. Having studied Chinese in Moscow State University and lived in China for years, she said China has an attractive culture and history and watching films is one of the best ways for people in Russia to learn Chinese about culture. She suggested the film administrations of both countries need to have deeper cooperation.

“I think there should be more Chinese movies in Russian cinemas, and I believe Russian audiences would like to watch good Chinese films,” Noskova said.