Musical film another window to Chinese culture

A senior expert in China's musical drama said here Saturday that musical film may become a window of demonstrating Chinese culture.

An official poster of musical film "The Family"

Hongmei Liu, department head of Musical Drama of the Central Academy of Drama, China, said at the Fame Hall Masters Meeting of the 52th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival that there are abundant stories about Chinese culture or daily life to tell and musical film could be one of the art forms to deliver the stories to foreign audience.

The Fame Hall Masters Meeting, according to organizers, aims to recognize excellence in film and video, promote cultural exchanges among countries, and add to the rich cultural fabric of the city of Houston.

According to Liu, Chinese musical film "Family", adapted from the semi-autobiographical novel by Chinese author Ba Jin, has got positive responses when screening on American campus.

"The Family," a 2018 musical film directed by Hongmei Liu, tells about three young people from a feudal noble family in China's Sichuan Province in early 1920s, exploring the hypocrisy and decay of the feudal system while praising mind-openness and critical thinking of new generation.

The competitive WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival opened on April 5 and runs till Sunday. During the period, 10 major categories of competition, including over 60 new independent feature films and 108 award-winning shorts as well as documentaries and student projects from around the world, will be screened. The film "Family" will be screened on Sunday.

One of the world's oldest independent film festivals, WorldFest boasts discovering a long list of heavyweights including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Ang Lee.