Recently, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, and Hu Zhifeng, Vice President of Beijing Film Academy (BFA), signed an agreement to officially grant BFA the UNESCO Chair on Cinematic Arts and Cultural Diversity. This is the world's first film-themed UNESCO Chair and also the first chair program approved for a municipal university in Beijing. It will play a positive role in further strengthening communication and cooperation between China and UNESCO, and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations around the world.
Agreement and Logo of BFA - UNESCO Chair on Cinematic Arts and Cultural Diversity
The UNESCO Chairs Program, initiated by UNESCO in 1992, seeks to promote knowledge sharing, information exchange, and resource integration in specific fields, thereby achieving sustainable development goals for humanity. The Chair on Cinematic Arts and Cultural Diversity was established to nurture the capabilities of young people in understanding and learning from diverse cultures of the world through global cooperation among universities.
In collaboration with internationally renowned universities and institutions such as the China-Europe Education Alliance for Humanities and Arts, Chinese Collegial Association for Visual Art (CCAVA), Russian State University of Cinematography (VGIK), University of the Arts London, and School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo, the BFA project team submitted the application to the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO and UNESCO after one-year long preparation. After several rounds of reviews both at home and abroad, the application was approved in January 2023. This is another successful example of municipal universities in Beijing contributing to building China's discourse system for international communication and making the voice of China's social organizations heard on the global stage, as well as honoring the city's commitment to spreading China's fine culture and enhancing the country's international influence.
