A dozen films are in the line-up for the 8th New Zealand Film Festival in China. Organizers hope the screenings in three Chinese cities will underline the friendliness of the source country.

This year's festival, sponsored by China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television, along with the New Zealand Film Commission, has come to Beijing, Qidong, and Shenzhen. 

Film-making has been an important element in cultural cooperation between China and New Zealand in recent years.

"The first official film co-production is being filmed. It's a children's animation," said Megan Birnie, Deputy Consul-General of New Zealand in Shanghai.

The festival is also helping build a platform for cooperation between filmmakers of the two countries. 

"I have several large projects. The project that I'm working on is a storybook from the United States, but the entire story is set on the Yangtze River in China," said Williams Mckay, film producer.

This is the 8th edition of the annual event. More than a hundred New Zealand films have been screened in China over the years.