The 31st Istanbul Film Festival

In honor of 2012 being declared the year of Chinese culture in Turkey, the 31st Istanbul Film Festival has created a section for Chinese cinema, and in particular the art of WuXia.

A selection of the best, most original, most prominent examples of the cinematic genre will be showcased at the festival. CCTV correspondent, Natalie Carney went to have a look.

Wu-Xia is a close relative to the traditional Kung Fu movies, yet unlike its comparative, which centers on the action, the fictional works of Wu-Xia tell chivalric stories decorated with martial arts.

As part of the special Chinese dedicated section at this year’s Istanbul Film Festival, Kung Fu expert Wang Qun led a group discussion exploring the art form at length.

Eight Wu-Xia films, chosen by Turkish members of the film festival, will be screened including five belonging to new martial arts. Yet Ms. Wang says it’s not so much about the action and aesthetics.

Wang Qun, Kung Fu expert, said, "We put more emphasis on human emotions, it goes beyond martial arts. For example, the director Ang Lee said that the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", is about the character’s feelings and that’s why the film won four Oscars."

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon went on to draw the world’s attention to Wu-Xia films.

Ann Hui, award-winning director, said, "It’s a very well made Kung Fu movie, but the story telling and the narrative is very western. It has character; it has suspense, it has a philosophy. So it’s something added on, so it makes the film much more. The western audience will be much more appreciative of WuXia because of that."