SRIFF 2026: A shared devotion to art – Italy and China via the lens

Italian director and producer Stephen Natanson – a documentary jury member at this year's Golden Silk Road Award – came to cinema through photography, working as a director of photography before moving into documentary film.

He spoke with CGTN's Zhang Meng in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, about what connects his country and China, and what role cinema has in the relationship.

With Italy and China signing new co-production agreements this year, Natanson believes the two cultures are connected in a shared devotion to art and craft.

"Films are the modern equivalent of the things that maybe traveled along the Silk Road." He says cross-cultural documentary collaboration requires "a collective way of working and collective storytelling," and a story that "works for both communities."