One of SIFF's greatest strengths, however, is in presenting classics from all over the world that have virtually no other chance of hitting the big screen in China. This year, as usual, hundreds of classics have been screening around the city of 23 million, including Godfather, Last Year at Marien bad and China' sown Stage Sisters, newly restored to its original glory. Recent award winners, such as Black Coal, Thin Ice and Dallas Buyers Club are also represented.

Half of the excitement about SIFF is behind doors or in the corridors, with both executives and creative types schmoozing at parties or between forum sessions. Hundreds of international guests descend on the city by the Huangpu River and explore opportunities in the vast China market, currently No 2 in box-office grosses and expected to over-take the US in five years. Co-production is always a hot issue, yet a new trend is emerging with more Chinese participation in global projects than the other way round. Several Chinese companies have announced plans to partner with Hollywood to make English-language films, including an $8 million project between Disney and Shanghai Media Group.

As China's own film industry gains momentum, fewer insiders see Hollywood as the archenemy. "It is a presence that should not be ignored or taken lightly. But there's still much we can learn from Holly-wood before we can export our films to the world," says Xu Zheng, director of Lost in Thailand, amid-budget film that set the box-office for a Chinese-language film in the domestic market.