Socialist China’s Participation in the Asia-Africa Film Festival (1958–1964)

Abstract

In the context of the Cultural Cold War, China and the Soviet Union jointly established the Asia-Africa Film Festival (AAFF) as a response to the conflict between the socialist camps and the US-led capitalist camp. Chinese and Soviet conceptions of film exchange and political cooperation changed as the festival progressed, and the manner and scale of China’s participation in the three AAFFs were completely different. Based on primary sources, this article discusses the AAFF with an in-depth analysis of the complex political dynamics behind China’s participation in three editions, thereby providing a fresh perspective on the cultural Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s as well as a deeper understanding of the multifaceted aspects of cultural diplomacy in socialist countries. This article argues that despite being in the cultural sphere, the AAFF serves a more political role by responding to the multiple forces’ conflicts and balances in the context of national interests.