Qingdao to host SCO film festival

QINGDAO -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) film festival is scheduled to be held in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province from June 13 to 17.

This event, co-hosted by the State Film Administration and Shandong provincial government, aims to promote cooperation and exchange between SCO states, said Li Guoqi, deputy director of the State Film Administration.

Film professionals from the eight member states and four observer states of SCO are expected to attend the festival. About 60 films produced by SCO states will be screened.

Qingdao, host of the latest SCO summit, is also home to China's earliest cinema, which was inside a former German sailor's club built in 1902.

The three-story wooden building had an auditorium on the first floor which served as a cinema. The audience were primarily sailors and club staff. Locals and German navy soldiers later attended screenings.

Following a two-year renovation, the former sailor's club was opened to public in August 2016. It houses a film museum on the third floor, a dozen projection booths on the second floor, and a screening hall and two bookstores, one of which features German works, on the first floor.

Classic films are shown free of charge on the first floor at the request of the audience.