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The 15th Beijing International Film Festival is set to spotlight the growing global reach of Chinese cinema with its “Overseas Distribution and Promotion of Chinese Films” initiative, featuring awards and a high-profile industry forum.
The event will recognize key players who have championed Chinese films in international markets, with industry veteran Arun Kapoor scheduled for a separate award presentation acknowledging his pioneering contributions spanning over five decades.
Kapoor, whose passion for film was inherited from his father O.P. Kapoor – one of India’s first film exhibitors in the 1960s – began distributing films in Latin America at age 20, using Peru as his operational base. Over his career, he has produced more than 30 films and expanded over 150 movie screens. His distribution portfolio includes more than 50 Chinese titles such as “High Forces,” “The Rescue,” “Come Back Home,” “Ride On,” and “The Climbers.”
The Kapoor family legacy continues through his son, Aman Kapoor, who now travels to major film markets worldwide selecting Chinese films for Peruvian screens, marking the family’s third generation in film distribution.
Among the companies nominated for the “Outstanding Contribution to the Overseas Distribution of Chinese Films” honorary awards are several major players in global film distribution:
CMC Pictures leads the “China Film Global Release” network covering 103 regions and countries across five continents, having distributed nearly 100 Chinese-language films including blockbusters like “Ne Zha,” “The Wandering Earth,” and “Wolf Warrior 2.”
North American Huashi Film Distribution Company, founded in 2010, has brought nearly 100 Chinese theatrical releases to the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland, including titles like “Back to 1980” and “Ping Pong of China: The Road to Victory.”
Hollywood giant Sony Pictures Entertainment made the list for its recent acquisitions of global distribution rights for “The Fires of Love” and the 2025 Spring Festival film “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants,” as well as securing remake rights for “Hi, Mom.”
Other nominees include Heylight Pictures, which has brought films like “Creation of the Gods I & II,” “The Wandering Earth 2,” “Full River Red,” and “Deep Sea” to French-speaking territories; Well Go, which has distributed hundreds of Chinese films in North America including 31 titles from 2019-2025 spanning science fiction, comedy, animation, and martial arts genres; and Star Films of Peru, which has over 20 years of experience bringing Chinese theatrical releases like “The Sea of Lost Things,” “Back to the Whinnies,” and “The Climbers” to Latin American audiences.
The nominee list also features Trinity CineAsia, one of Europe’s largest Chinese-language film distributors with 60-70% market share and responsible for half of China’s top domestic hits reaching U.K. screens – including “Ne Zha 2“; MM2 Entertainment, a Singapore-based media company that has distributed more than 20 Chinese titles including “Creation of the Gods II” and “Detective Chinatown 1900” across Singapore and Malaysia with cumulative box office exceeding RMB100 million ($13.6 million); Tai Ge Ying Hua Entertainment, established in 2012 and focused on promoting Chinese culture globally through film distribution; and Menbai Eiga, which handles Japanese distribution of Chinese films and notably secured Japan’s first simultaneous release of “Creation of the Gods II” while maintaining a Japanese website dedicated to Chinese cinema.
The festival will also host a forum exploring strategies for Chinese films to reach broader international audiences beyond Chinese-speaking communities. The discussion will analyze how different genres perform overseas and examine successful cross-cultural storytelling approaches.
Industry experts from Well Go, Star Films, Heylight, MM2, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Chinese Film Global Release are expected to participate, sharing insights on breaking cultural barriers through effective localization strategies, social media promotion, and leveraging film festivals as cultural exchange platforms.
Recent successes highlighted include “Creation of the Gods” franchise, “The Wandering Earth 2,” and “Deep Sea,” which have demonstrated Chinese cinema’s growing international appeal and diverse storytelling capabilities.
Trinity CineAsia’s distribution of “The Wandering Earth 2” achieved particular prominence as the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in the U.K. in 15 years, representing the growing market share for Chinese cinema in European territories.
The initiative comes as Chinese films continue to expand their global footprint, with distributors bringing increasingly diverse content ranging from science fiction blockbusters and animated features to contemporary dramas and historical epics to international audiences.
The 15th Beijing International Film Festival takes place April 18-26.
