Chinese film: Deputy director general of the Chinese Film Bureau Liang Ge (center), accompanied by Sukmawati Soekarnoputri (left) and actress Bai Baihe, inaugurates Chinese Film Week at Cinemaxx in Jakarta, on Thursday. The five-day event will run until March 28. (JP/Seto Wardhana)

The show must go on for the fourth 2016 Chinese Film Week in Jakarta, despite bilateral tension between the two countries.

The festival will screen seven Chinese movies from March 25 to 28 in three venues: Lotte Shopping Avenue XXI in Kuningan, South Jakarta; Cinemaxx FX Sudirman, South Jakarta; and Cinemaxx Maxx box Lippo Village in Karawaci, Tangerang.

The seven movies were chosen as a representation of China'€™s thriving film industry, said Liang Ge, the director general for film bureau at China'€™s state administration of press, publication, radio, film and television.

Among them are 3D fantasy action comedy adventure Monster Hunt (2015), animation film Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015) and comedy Lost in Thailand (2012), all of which were commercial successes, breaking numerous box office records in China.

'€œWe would like to introduce our movies and culture [to Indonesian people] and build common understanding and improve people-to-people connections between China and Indonesia,'€ Ge said during the opening ceremony on Thursday night.

When asked if there was any relation between the event and the recent dispute between the two countries, Ge said the event had been planned over a year ago and was not related to the ongoing conflict between Indonesia and China.

Recently, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry submitted a diplomatic note of protest to the Chinese government in response to territorial violations allegedly committed by a Chinese-flagged fishing vessel and a Chinese coast guard vessel in Indonesian waters off Natuna in Riau Islands.

But China and Indonesia'€™s bilateral quarrel seemed far away at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Chinese Film Week at Cinemaxx FX with the room decked out in red decorations, the color of China'€™s national flag.

Chinese movie enthusiasts screamed wildly when superstar Bai Baihe took the stage during the press conference.

Baihe was the star of the event with two of her films, Monster Hunt and comedy film Go Away Mr. Tumor (2015), being screened in the festival.

The presence of the 32-year-old actress, who is the embodiment of the girl-next-door character in a romantic story, shows that Chinese movies are not all about kung fu '€” the country'€™s famous martial art '€” with genres varying from action to comedy and romance.

Apart from promoting Chinese movies to the Indonesian audience, the event also has a diplomatic mission. '€œWe hope that from the event, the relationship between the people in both countries will improve in every level,'€ Ge said.

Chinese embassy minister counsellor Sun Weide explained in his opening remarks that there had been cooperation in the film industry between two countries.

He said Indonesian and Chinese artists had been collaborating on the production of the film Island Dream. The team finished filming in Bali at the end of last year, he added.

Weide also said that the 2016 Chinese Film Week in Jakarta was made possible thanks to support from the Indonesian government.

In addition to the Chinese Film Week in Jakarta, the Chinese government had also invited a number of Indonesian filmmakers to attend the Shanghai International Film Festival and Silk Road International Film Festival and screen their movies at the prestigious events last year, he said.

'€œWe can say the exchange and cooperation between China and Indonesia in the film industry has a good and big prospect in the future,'€ Weide said.

It seems the Chinese government'€™s hard work promoting Chinese movies in Indonesia since 2011 through the Chinese Film Week has started to bear fruit.

A flock of Chinese movie fans attended the opening ceremony. Among them was 23-year-old Riyana Istiqoma, or Anna, who said she had loyally attended Chinese Film Week for years.

'€œI am so excited about this year'€™s event because my idol Bai Baihe is here,'€ she said.

Anna had the chance to give a souvenir to her idol after the press conference. '€œI am so happy,'€ the girl said, smiling from ear to ear, after personally meeting the star.

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