The Chinese are Coming

Wong Kar-Wei, the Hong Kong director of Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love, has been elected the president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. This is the first time that a Chinese director has taken on this prestigious and influential role. On the jury with him, among an international array of actors and directors, is another Chinese artist, Zhang Zhe Yi who played the lead in Memoirs of A Geisha.

Film commentators say that this is a critical moment in world cinema as it signposts the rising influence and reach of Chinese film. Interviewed on BBC News 24, Wong said that in the next few years, we will be seeing a lot of great movies coming out of China.