Adelaide will host the Australia China International Film Festival in November and could remain the host for the next five years.

Australia China International Film Festival organisers expressed their willingness to host the event in Adelaide for the next five years to Adelaide City councillors, who voted to support the festival at last night’s council meeting. 

In a motion put on the agenda by Deputy Lord Mayor Keiran Snape, the council welcomed the news that Adelaide will be the host city and requested Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith write an official welcome letter to event organisers. 

Councillor Jing Li said the film festival will further increase Adelaide’s international reputation. 

“The name of the event is actually quite self-explanatory,” he said. 

“It suggests a feast of cultural exchanges by showcasing movies from both Australia and China, celebrities, red carpets, limelight and also, of course, fans travelling from many Asian countries to the City of Adelaide to follow their celebrities.”

The Australian China Film Festival began in 2014, with the inaugural event being hosted in Brisbane. Sydney has hosted twice, in 2015 and 2016, and Brisbane again hosted the most recent iteration in 2017.

The announcement that Adelaide would host the return of the film festival this year was made in April at the Beijing International Film Festival.

Li said event organisers have partnered with the newly opened Marriott Hotel to accommodate delegates and festival guests, as well as exploring event partnership options with Adelaide Zoo and Magill Estate. 

In the meeting which Snape did not attend due to illness, councillors Simon Hou and Carmel Noon workshopped the motion to extend the council’s support further and voted for Lomax-Smith to host a welcome event at Town Hall for the festival, as well as writing a letter to organisers.

Hou thanked Australia China Film Festival chairperson Shelly Yu, saying she was  “very proud to be able to achieve this for Adelaide”. 

Hou said as well as meaning a lot to the Chinese-Australian community, the festival will have a clear economic impact through hotel stays and spending at local restaurants and businesses. 

The organisers estimate that 2200 visitors will attend the festival’s opening ceremony at the National Wine Centre on November 14. The closing ceremony will be held at the Adelaide COnvention Centre.

“Imagine you have another extra thousand people flying into Adelaide, how many hotel rooms they’re going to book,” Hou said. 

“We can’t just leave it to other layers of government or other organisations to provide support. 

“We need to own it, we need to play an important role in how we actually support this kind of event in Adelaide.” 

​​Yu said the festival “transcends mere cinema, serving as a dynamic platform for cultural exchange and collaboration”. 

“Through a diverse selection of films, we invite audiences to explore the rich storytelling traditions and contemporary issues of both nations, fostering understanding and unity,” she said.

“This year’s festival holds particular importance, symbolising the enduring friendship between our countries and the unifying power of film.” 

The festival program includes masterclasses with international filmmakers and special screenings of top-grossing Chinese films from 2023–2024. 

Though the exact program has not been confirmed, proposed films for screening include Yi ren zhi xia/ The Traveller based on the popular Chinese graphic novel The Outcast and Lai fu da jiu dian/Life Hotel. 

A couple of the contenders for screenings at the festival.

Noon added that in addition to writing a welcome letter, Lomax-Smith should write to Premier Peter Malinauskas, Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison, Arts Minister Andrea Michaels and their federal counterparts, Don Farrell and Tony Burke. 

She said the letter would highlight the significance of the festival as a way to strengthen South Australia’s relationship with China in the areas of tourism and trade. 

This year’s festival is also significant to Adelaide and China relations as it is the 10th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Adelaide and Qingdao, a city in the province of Shandong.

Shandong and South Australia have been sister states since 1986. Qingdao is known as the home of Tsingtao Beer, China’s top-selling export lager made with malting barley from SA.

In 2017, the state government sponsored the Royale Adelaide Club to the tune of $600,000 to bring the Royal Croquet Club to the Qingdao International Beer Festival as part of a trade mission, but the venture was unsuccessful.

The council’s support for the film festival was carried unanimously.

The Australia China Film Festival will be run from November 14-17, with more information available on their website.