24/03/2016 - Past London Film Festival selections to feature on VoD platform

The British Film Institute (BFI) has entered into an agreement with Chinese video-on-demand platform iQIYI to deliver films from past editions of the London Film Festival. iQIYI is China’s largest VoD platform with more than 10 million paid subscribers. At launch the BFI Collection on iQIYI includes 20 features, a mix of British independents and world cinema, and this number is set to expand rapidly. Initial titles include The Arbor [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Hello Carter, Nowhere Boy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Amour [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Haneke
film profile], Philomena [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile] and Trishna [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Freida Pinto and Michael Wi…
interview: Riz Ahmed
film profile].

Edward Humphrey, Digital Director at the BFI said, “This is just the beginning for us – the BFI is uniquely placed to deliver such collections and we’re looking forward to working with more partners in more territories to bring outstanding British cinema to audiences around the world.”

Yang Xianghua, Senior Vice-President of iQIYI said, “Online movie streaming transcends time and space to allow more Chinese movie fans to watch world-class films in real time. iQIYI is committed to providing the best streaming service for our users.”

BFI programmers, including LFF Director, Clare Stewart and Deputy Director, Tricia Tuttle, have classified the films into four categories: Growing Pains, Foreign Adventures, Family Anecdotes and Social Perspectives.

The iQIYI deal is the latest in the BFI’s ever-growing engagement with China. The organisation has taken several film industry trade delegations to the country and presented from its archives Nankin Road, Shanghai (1901) at the Great Festival of Creativity in Shanghai in 2015. In 2014, the BFI held a yearlong season of Chinese films in the UK.