Shanghai movie buffs finally have a theater dedicated to foreign and domestic art-house films.

The Shanghai Hong Miao Art Film Center opened Tuesday night in a former Taoist temple in Lane No. 496 off the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall.

Center officials said fans of independent, non-commercial films will be able to see one or two works every evening at the city's first such cinema.

Leading figures from China's four generations of film directors celebrate the opening of the Shanghai Hong Miao Art Film Center on Tuesday, June 19, 2007. From right to left are Xie Jin, Wu Yigong, Tian Zhuangzhuang and Lu Chuan.

Veteran film maker Tian Zhuangzhuang's latest work The Go Master, a Chinese biopic about Wu Qingyuan -- a master of the Go board game -- premiered on Tuesday after the center's opening.

The movie is among those competing for the Jinjue Award at the ongoing 10th Shanghai International Film Festival.

"I don't think there's a clear line between commercial and art films," Tian said. "Every film has its own target audience, but the opening of such a movie center shows more and more people in China are devoted to developing the country's film industry."

The center so far has collected more than 50 candidates for screenings, including recent award-winning pictures such as Jia Zhangke's Still Life, which earned a Golden Lion in Venice, and the TV film My Slave Mother, which stars Emmy winner He Lin, a mainland actress.

With two screening halls, the center can hold a total audience of around 120. All the movies will be shown with English and Chinese subtitles. Tickets are priced at 40 yuan (US$5.26).

Wang Feng, a freelance writer and film enthusiast, was among those happy about the new center.

"Many excellent works with high artistry but small budgets are rarely seen at cinemas, but they still have loyal audiences," Wang said. "It should be a good start."

In fact, the opening of the center is "the first step toward building an art-house film cinema line," said Ren Zhonglun, president of Shanghai Film Group Corp, the center's sole investor.

(Shanghai Daily June 20, 2007)