Ukraine and China have reached an agreement on collaboration in the film area, which is expected to eventually lead to co-production.
The two countries’ film officials have initialed a memorandum on mutual understanding, and there are plans to sign a full-fledged agreement on cooperation between the Ukrainian and Chinese film industries before the end of this year, the Ukrainian wire service Ukrinform reported.
“The initialing of this memorandum will enable us to sign a bilateral intergovernmental agreement that will allow our countries to effectively cooperate in the film sector, support coproduction, encourage filmmakers to participate in film festivals and other events, facilitate film import,” said Kateryna Kopylova, head of Ukrainian State Agency for Cinema, the document’s signee from the Ukrainian side, in a statement released by Ukrinform.
She added that while Ukraine is looking for prospective cooperation partners in Asia, China is the most promising one.
Based on preliminary discussions, special screenings of selected Chinese films are to be held at the Ukrainian festival Molodist, while Ukrainian movies are to have screenings at Beijing and Shanghai international film festivals. Coproduction is considered as the next step in the two countries’ collaboration.
So far, Ukraine has primarily looked to the west for collaboration partners in film. Two years ago, it signed a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the cinema area with France.