A visual feast for Chinese movie fans, the 2025 Austrian Film Festival kicked off in Beijing on Monday and is set to tour a total of seven cities across the country until Sept 30.

The festival's opening film is Club Zero, a dark comedy about a teacher who takes a job at an elite school and forms a strong bond with five students — a relationship that ultimately takes a dangerous turn.

Wolf Dietrich Heim, the Austrian ambassador to China, said that many cultural exchange activities had been held since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Austria more than five decades ago, adding that the festival would be a new addition and a new beginning of cooperation in the field of cinema.

Liu Chun, vice-president of the China Film Group Corp, said that China and Austria share a profound heritage in the fields of art and culture. "We also hope that this film festival will allow more Chinese audiences to experience the charm and fresh perspectives of European cinema," he added.

A total of seven Austrian films will be screened, ranging from classics like The White Ribbon, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, to recent features like Gipsy Queen and Bachmann: Journey into the Desert.

Jessica Hausner, director of Club Zero, and Markus Binder, the film's music producer, attended the opening ceremony held at a downtown cinema in Beijing. Hausner shared that she aims to illustrate how people, under the influence of a mind control program, exhibit various exaggerated and distorted behaviors.

The festival will also be held in Shanghai, Jiaxing in Zhejiang province, Taiyuan in Shanxi province, Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Nanjing in Jiangsu province, and Xiamen in Fujian province.