Movie museum opened to explain industry's history

The Qingdao Film Museum, the first of its kind in Qingdao of East China's Shandong province, opened to the public on May 20 to give people insight into how the movie industry has changed over the past centuries.

The museum, covering more than 1,000 square meters, is located on the third floor of the 1907 Movie Club, the former site of the Seaman's Club. The Seamen's Club, built in 1902, is the home to the first-ever cinema in China. The museum contains more than 1,000 items including film documents, film posters and filmmaking equipment. Many exhibits are being displayed to the public for the first time, according to the museum's director, Yue Chengbo.

The museum, with seven themes, gives visitors the chance to explore China and the world's film development history from a variety of angles.

It showcases contributions Qingdao has made to China's filmmaking industry over the past century. The museum also tells stories of outstanding film figures in Qingdao.

Yue said that leading experts in filmmaking gave suggestions during the museum's planning stage to ensure it provides a holistic explanation of the history of filmmaking, as well as inspiration and interaction with other film lovers. The museum will be an important destination for people to learn more about film in the city.

The museum has collected more than 40 film projectors from different periods of time. Most of the film projectors are still functional. There will be an area for people to watch movies played by 8mm, 16mm and 35mm film projectors.

Hongxing Cinema, one of the oldest cinemas in Qingdao, will be recreated in the museum to offer visitors a completely different movie-watching experience.

Twelve short films, which were presented by the Lumire brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean in 1895, will be played in the museum.

Some old Chinese movies which were screened in Qingdao will also be screened publicly.

Classic scenes from movies such as Roman Holiday and Days of Being Wild will be reproduced in the museum for visitors to review the filmmaking processes. Film posters will also be produced on site for movie lovers.

Yue revealed that the former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Hawk Koch, iconic actress Cong Shan and famous film director Ding Sheng visited the museum before the public opening.

The museum will open to the public for free between April and November so that ordinary people may have more chances to appreciate the beauty of film production. Price will be 30 yuan ($4.35) between May and October.

Apart from demonstrating film-related works, cultural events including seminars, exhibitions and film salons will also be held in the museum. Non-for-profit movies will be screened on a weekly basis.

Yue said the museum will help to develop online and offline movie alliances in the upcoming years.

An autograph exhibition named Floating Dream - the Golden Age of Hollywood Autograph Exhibition will be held in the museum to allow visitors to explore relics of Hollywood's golden age. Autographs of some of the most iconic Hollywood stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Vivien Leigh and Charlie Chaplin will be displayed, according to Yue.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn