A week-long Festival of Contemporary Chinese Cinema kicked off for the second consecutive year here on Monday, featuring nine Chinese film productions of the last decade.

Tuya's Marriage, which won the Golden Bear at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival, as well as Ocean Heaven with the martial arts superstar Jet Li that topped three categories at the China Movie Channel Media Awards 2010, are among the movies that the audience can enjoy in the Cinema House.

Addressing the event, Yin Yali, cultural counselor with the Chinese embassy in Bulgaria, said that currently the Chinese cinema is in the best period of its development.

Prof. Ge Zhiqiang, Chinese director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, which organized the event in cooperation with the Cinema House and the Cultural Center of the Sofia University, said that they have chosen a diverse selection of genres and themes to provoke and retain the spectators' interest in the East.

With the help of cinema, Bulgarian audience will be closely acquainted with the specifics and diversity of Chinese culture, morality, traditions, customs and history, Ge said.

During the festival, the public can also see a photo exhibition "Confucius Institute -- a bridge between two cultures."