From June 16 to 23, the city of Shanghai will be host to the 16th annual Shanghai International Film Festival, an international platform for foreign filmmakers to connect with audiences in the world’s fastest growing film market. The festival’s main programs will include an awards ceremony, a professional film trade gathering of international producers, distributors, and buyers, a forum featuring lectures by industry professionals, and international film screenings.

American movies have always been a bright and flickering window into our nation’s history -- a great narrative tool to tell the American story to foreign audiences. What better way could there be to support our public diplomacy than by screening documentaries about our culture and history at more than 500 American Spaces around the world?

Accessing the money administered by the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) and Bank of Industry (BOI) has been tough and despite President Jonathan saying the Ministries of Finance and Culture would administer the $3 billion, some filmmakers were not too impressed.

As the most prodigious in the world, the Indian film industry produces some 1,200 feature films annually, more than double the number produced by Hollywood. "We make such a number of films that it's impossible to keep all," says India's most respected archivist P. K. Nair.

Premier Jay Weatherill has made headlines in China, appearing on the Shandong news spruiking a film about Chinese gold miners to more than 100 million viewers. Snapped casually chatting with news anchor Mao Xin, one of the country's most powerful news presenters, Mr Weatherill is hoping the $15 million film, which will be based in Adelaide, will open the door to further economic exchange.

The 3rd Beijing International Film Festival was a public diplomacy showcase this week for Chinese cinema at its best. Banners throughout the capital promoted the festival, the awards ceremony and, not least, the film-selling market in a country that now proudly proclaims itself as the world’s leader in movie theater revenues, ahead of the U.S. And yet, and yet…

In the first three months of this year, ticket sales for American-made films in the world's second-largest cinema market took an unexpected nosedive. Hollywood's revenues fell by about two thirds in China, compared with the same period a year earlier, to about $A195 million, as big-budget titles such as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey failed to impress.

David Pountney, who is also the company's artistic director, was awarded the Order of Merit at a ceremony in Vienna. It recognises outstanding contributions to co-operation between Poland and other nations. He was honoured for staging Polish opera in his role as director of the Bregenz festival in Austria since 2003.