Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

 

Good afternoon.

 

It gives me great pleasure to open this afternoon's film show at the University of Papua New Guinea. First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my colleague French Ambassador H.E. Mr. Thierry Bernadac for initiating the International Film Festival which has been so far enjoyed by many Papua New Guinean friends.

 

We are living in a multi-faceted world. The background, history, custom and culture are all different from one country to the other. Only by learning from each other, the culture of each country can make its own advancement.

 

Film or movie is one aspect of a country's culture. It reflects the real life and the imagination of its peoples. It gives the enjoyment, the thrill or excitement to people. The art of making movie is also progressing everyday.

 

The films to be shown during this international film festival are from countries across the five continents of the world. By watching these films, we will better understand different peoples of the world as well as their cultural diversity. This is, I think, the significance of this international film festival.

 

Movie making was first introduced into China in 1905. In the last hundred years, China's movie industry also made great strides. The various aspects of the lives of the Chinese people have become the theme of the movie creation. New fields of activities, new people and new ideas brought variations to the theme, style and forms of Chinese movies and inserted a strong national flavor, enabling them to have a full expression of the national spirit. Movie creation was permeated with optimism, excitement and heroism. China produces an average of 140 feature films annually and its cinemagoers go to the movie theater about 12 billion times a year. Since the mid-1980s Chinese films have aroused considerable attention in the world and begun to win prizes at major international film festivals. The film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden dragon" to be shown this afternoon is a winner of four Awards, including an award of Foreign Language Film. I hope every friend present will enjoy the story and the fabulous Chinese martial arts performed in the film by the famous Chinese actors and actresses.  

 

Last but not least, I hope this year's international film festival will be a complete success and it will help promote the mutual understanding and friendship between the people of PNG and the above mentioned countries.

 

Thank you!