Photo: Courtesy of Nouvelles d'Europe

A special film screening ceremony was held in London on October 7 to celebrate a record-breaking Chinese movie, My People, My Country.

The epic seven-part anthology to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was the first Chinese movie to be released simultaneously in more than 10 European countries. 

Jointly organized by the UK branch of Nouvelles d'Europe and the China Tourism Office in London, the Monday night screening ceremony was attended by 380 guests. 

Yu Peng, minister counsellor for culture at the Chinese Embassy in London, said the film has achieved remarkable results both at home and abroad. The seven short stories from seven directors, which draw on important historical moments since the founding of the PRC in 1949, awaken the shared memories of Chinese people around the world and trigger patriotic enthusiasm.

Li Qiang, head of the UK branch of Nouvelles d'Europe, said the film was released simultaneously on October 1 in more than 10 European countries including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria. "In the UK, the film has been released in 15 theaters in 12 cities including London, Birmingham and Manchester in just one week," Li said, adding that there have been 574 screening sessions in 35 theaters in 25 cities across the UK.

Li told the Global Times the rising enthusiasm of audiences has made it hard to get tickets, reflecting the patriotic enthusiasm of overseas Chinese. Some overseas Chinese organizations have even booked the entire screening hall for Chinese overseas students and local Chinese communities.

The box office takings in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg have reached 100,000 euros, setting a record for Chinese-language films in these five countries.

In the early morning of October 9, the official Weibo account for the movie announced that My People, My Country had advanced into the top ten in box office terms in Chinese-language movie history. Figures from the China Movie Data Information Network showed that it grossed about 256.13 million yuan (36.21 million dollars) by Friday, leading the Chinese mainland box office.