The Sino-French film series, a special curated event at this year's Beijing Culture Forum, launches a film concert on Monday.

As a special curated event at this year's Beijing Culture Forum, the Sino-French film series took place from Monday to Wednesday.

It was also designed to commemorate the 130th anniversary of world cinema, the 120th anniversary of Chinese cinema, and the 61st anniversary of China-France diplomatic ties.

Under the theme "Wind Moves, Shadows Dance", the event symbolized the fluid and interconnected nature of Chinese and French film cultures.

Through film concerts, image salons, academic dialogues, and film screenings, the series explored the century-long cinematic history of the two countries, examined innovation and expression of film art in the contemporary era, and aimed to elevate Sino-French film cultural exchanges to a new level.

The event featured a distinguished French delegation led by former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. It included notable figures such as director Jean-Jacques Annaud and actress Juliette Binoche. The Chinese delegation was equally impressive, gathering prominent individuals from the film, cultural, and academic sectors. They included renowned director Wu Ershan, actor Liu Ye and the Peking Opera masters Tan Zhengyan and Tan Xiaozeng.

This grand event comprised three core segments: a film concert that offered an audiovisual feast through classic film reproductions and live performances; five special activities featuring master dialogues, film screenings and academic seminars; and an image salon focused on the inheritance and innovation of film art.

This year, the Beijing Culture Forum introduced a new salon format, designed to regularly bring together experts, scholars and cultural celebrities from around the world. These gatherings will fuel exchanges, discussions, and collaborations on themes such as cultural heritage and development.

In April, the salon's inaugural event was held at Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) Park, where guests engaged in discussions on topics like "the global value of cultural heritage protection" and "how science and technology empower cultural heritage protection".

Sun Junmin, head of the city's publicity department, said that the Beijing Culture Forum Salon will serve as an innovative platform to promote ongoing cultural initiatives, coordinate high-quality projects, and enhance international cultural exchanges.

It will focus on themes like cultural heritage protection, cultural and technological innovation, and the integration of culture, commerce, tourism and sports, regularly organizing professional and diverse activities.

Furthermore, Beijing is committed to refining its cooperation mechanisms and elevating the standards of operation and management. The goal is to ensure that activities are consistently innovative and exceptional, establishing a Beijing Culture Forum that remains accessible and dynamic online.

The inaugural event also announced the first batch of 17 venues for the Beijing Culture Forum Salon, including the Temple of Heaven and the Bell and Drum Towers.

These venues, rich in historical heritage and cultural significance, will resume their everyday functions outside event periods, promoting the use of cultural relics in the city.