Paramount Pictures said Friday it has inked a co-financing deal with two Chinese companies for the Hollywood studio’s slate of movies over the next three years. Under the terms of the deal, Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media will also set up an office on Paramount’s lot later this year, the studio said in a statement. [...] It’s the latest China-Hollywood tie-up, as both sides aim to beef up their presence in each other’s movie industries.

Loosely based on Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility", the Ekta Kapoor produced "Kumkum Bhagya" -- or Vermillion in My Destiny -- has somehow struck a chord with Ghanaian audiences, said Abena Yiadom, Adom TV Channel Manager, adding that it is watched by "20 per cent of national audience". "Most Ghanaians relate well to the storyline which is about arranged marriages," Yiadom told IANS of the serial that has been on air with Twi language voice-overs since November 2015. 

A popular Taiwanese television drama, "The Way We Were (16 個夏天)," will be broadcast in Spanish in El Salvador, starting on Dec. 4, according to Taiwan's embassy in the Central American country. Airing the series abroad is part of the government's efforts to promote Taiwan's TV industry and introduce Taiwanese culture and people to foreign allies, said Florencia Hsieh (謝妙宏) while unveiling the series in San Salvador on Nov. 24.

Selma director Ava DuVernay is brining new cinema to our shores. This month, her distribution company, ARRAY, is releasing the South African coming-of-age drama Ayanda in theaters in Los Angeles and New York. Ayanda—starring Terry Pheto, star of the Oscar-winning South African indie Tsotsi—tells the story of a young woman who is willing to do anything to keep her father's legacy alive.

Now more nations rely on their soft power to find diplomatic solutions. When it comes to this, films, especially commercial films, are some of the best choices around.