Thirteen Chinese films, including Jia Zhangke's "Mountains May Depart," are scheduled for screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year.
Now on its 40th year, the festival opened on Thursday, Sept. 10.
The 11-day festival is set to screen about 400 films from over 70 countries and regions. Some of the Chinese films scheduled to be screened include "Mountains May Depart" by Jia Zhangke, "Office" by Johnnie To, "Paths to the Soul" by Zhang Yang and "The Promised Land" by He Ping.
"Chinese films are unique and powerful with immense culture, and it's a driving force to China's economy, a vital film industry," Giovanna Fulvi, TIFF programmer for East Asia, said. "Audiences in the West have more and more interest, and I believe more Chinese films will be imported into North America."
Fulvi noted that "Paths of the Soul," which was shot in Tibet, is "a very special film" and "The Promised Land" is "a very interesting subject matter."
Fulvi also added that TIFF has developed a liking for Chinese films for almost two decades.
"Zhang Yang's 'Shower' was discovered here in 1999, and all the years since we have been following the works of major Chinese directors," she said.
In 2013, TIFF released a retrospective called "A Century of Chinese Cinema," which showcased more than 80 films.
"We were very surprised in the beginning that Chinese movies took leadership here when we did the 100 years of Chinese cinema, which was a fabulous piece of work," said festival founder William Marshall.
"To me the important thing about Chinese new cinema is to stop doing the basic tales, like the red lantern story, and start doing a new story about new modern Chinese thoughts," Marshall said.
A new section of TIFF, called Platform after a film by Jia, aims to champion artistic films through a competitive program. Jia will serve as the leader of its inaugural jury.
"The Promised Land" is one of 12 films that is running for the Platform prize, which will be awarded on Sept. 20 during the closing ceremony.