By Francis Kobena Tandoh
The Chinese Embassy in Ghana on Wednesday hosted the 2026 edition of the Chinese Film Festival at the Silverbird cinema at the Accra Mall in the Ghanaian capital to deepen people-to-people exchanges among the two nations.
The film festival attracted a large audience, including friends from the Ghanaian government, the diplomatic corps, and a cross section of the Ghanaian society as well as students and representatives of the Chinese community in Accra.
In his brief to open the festival, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Cong Song emphasized that the year 2026 marks the year of China-Africa people-to-people exchanges, stressing that it represents a significant step in the relations between their peoples.
“This year marks the year of China-Africa people-to-people exchanges. It represents a significant step toward further deepening the friendship between China and Africa at a new historical starting point,” said the Chinese ambassador.
He announced the Asian nation and the African continent will host nearly 600 cultural and people-to-people exchange activities under the theme “Consolidate All-Weather Friendship, Pursue Shared Dream of Modernization.”
The activities, he emphasized, span multiple areas, including intellectual exchanges, mutual learning among civilizations, practical cooperation, youth engagement, and green development, saying, “People-to-people exchanges are the enduring source of strength for the everlasting China-Africa friendship.”
Film, according to H.E. Cong Song, represents a vessel of culture and a window to the soul, as a good movie can transcend the barriers of language and borders, resonating with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Ivan Quashigah, board chairman of the National Film Authority (NFA), described film as one of the most powerful tools for connecting people, stressing how Chinese films have influenced the Ghanaians over the past years.
“For many Ghanaians, the relationship between Ghana and China goes back several decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, Chinese films were regularly shown in Ghana, giving many of us early claims to Chinese culture, history, and storytelling. We remember the excitement, the action, and the unique stories that came to us from China. Those films helped create an important cultural bridge between our two peoples,” he said.
The Ghanaian government official emphasized that Chinese film cinema has grown into a global force, demonstrating remarkable progress in storytelling, technology, production, and distribution, stressing the need to see the festival as an opportunity to deepen the connection between the two countries.
The Chinese Film Festival, which will end on Aug. 28, is opened to the general public free of charge. Among the six films to be screened are The Wandering Earth II, Chang An, White Snake, Blades of the Guardians, Gezhi Town, and The Litchi Road. Enditem
Source: Ghana Eye Report
