August 4^th saw the kickoff of the "NCPA International Opera Film Exhibition 2018", which is hosted by the NCPA and co-organized by Broadway Cinemas in the NCPA Opera House.

Present at the opening ceremony were, among others, WANG Ning, Deputy Mayor of Beijing, and Party Secretary and President of the NCPA, ZHAO Jiachen, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Propaganda Department, and Deputy Party and Vice President of the NCPA, YANG Shuo, Party Secretary and Director-general of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, KANG Wei, Party Secretary and Chairman of Beijing Performance & Arts Group, HOU Guangming, Party Secretary of Beijing Film Academy, MA Wen, Sub-inspector of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture, and WANG Jie, General Manager of Broadway Cinemas in China, who inaugurated the International Opera Film Exhibition.

A stunning trailer was shown first, giving the audience a glimpse of film highlights to be screened at the Exhibition. WANG Ning, Deputy Mayor of Beijing and Party Secretary and President of NCPA, addressed the ceremony. He said, “The opera film is a fusion of the traditional opera art and new media technology, represents a new trend of contemporary classical art promotion and communication and serves as an important means by which the international opera circle can expand its influence and develops audience. The international opera film exhibition was founded by the NCPA in 2016 and the first two were attended by seven world-famous opera houses with opera films shown on nearly 500 screens in 10 Chinese cities, nearly 40 thousand viewers watching operas in cinemas at a preferential price.

ZHAO Jiachen, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Propaganda Department and Deputy Party Secretary and Vice President of the NCPA, signed a cooperative agreement with KANG Wei, Party Secretary and Chairman of Beijing Performance & Arts Group, and HOU Guangming, Party Secretary of Beijing Film Academy, respectively.

Meanwhile, the NCPA developed cooperation with “Capital Star Art Film Theatres League” in order to show opera films in cinemas all-year round. Also, lectures on special topics and artists’ face-to-face meeting will be launched with for opera art outreach.

Besides, the NCPA would enjoy close cooperation with the Beijing Film Academy on promotions and communications, shooting and production of opera films, as well as personnel training.

Then, the NCPA’s much-anticipated 4K opera film Simon Boccanegra was shown on the screen in the Opera House. Simon Boccanegra, starring world-class singers such as Plácido Domingo, HE Hui, TIAN Haojiang, Mikhail Agafonov and Vincenzo Taormina, shot and produced by 4K technology, was finally-screened under 4K resolution in the NCPA Opera House. Such a technical parameter is second to none at home. It was the second time that this film was put on screen after it had appeared at at the 21^st Shanghai International Film Festival.

From now on until October 31^st, 13 wonderful films brought by four international opera houses, including the NCPA, The Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Teatro Real, will take turns to be shown on 265 screens in 17 cinemas.

Opera films will start a nationwide tour in ten cities, including Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, Changsha, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Qingdao and Shanghai, where a variety of activities, such as artists’ face-to-face meetings with audience, and expert talks and film reviews, will be held 40 to 100 yuan to enable audiences to see a classic opera film produced by a world-renowned opera house on their doorsteps.