When the city of Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, opened its Silk Road International Film Festival, the city's first, on Oct 20, it had China's Yan Ni, a famous actress, along with Diao Yinan, a director, and other film and TV celebrities taking part, xinhuanet.com has reported, and it has plans to hold the event annually.

The festival, running Oct 19 - 25, is China's third biggest international film fair, after those in Beijing and Shanghai, and has at least 100 films on show at Xi'an cinemas, including China's Red Sorghum and Old Well, Russia's Dog's Heaven and Story about Sacrifice, and South Korea's Listen to Me and The Place Where the Sun Rises.

It has sponsorship from the State Publication, Radio, Film and TV Administration, and the Shaanxi and Fujian provincial governments. The organizers have explained that the festival is meant to increase cultural communications and cooperation among countries along the Silk Road as part of China's "Silk Road Economic Belt" and "21st Century Maritime Silk Road"concept. It is also a way to award popular films and for forums on Chinese and foreign cooperation in film, film innovation, and showing films on public squares, in communities and at colleges and universities.

Yan Ni, who is from Shaanxi and the festival's image ambassador, has appeared in My Own Swordsman and A Servant of Two Masters. Diao Yinan, also from Shaanxi, directed Black Coal Thin Ice, which won the Golden Bear award for best film at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.