More screenings (some free) will take place in the following days at other mid-Wales venues including Lampeter, Cardigan, and Aberywstwyth.

The festival is Wales' first nationwide festival of Chinese cinema, and runs throughout October to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China and to give film-lovers in Wales the chance to discover great Chinese films which they might not otherwise have even heard of.

While the festival hopes to attract audience members from the Chinese community in Wales, the films have been carefully selected for their strong and engaging stories and colourful characters in order to appeal to everyone, whether or not they have any special knowledge of Chinese culture or history.

One such film is Seventeen Years ( shown in Cardigan 11 October; Aberystwyth, 21 October) directed by Zhang Yuan. Zhang was banned from making films after earlier works, such as East Palace, West Palace (China's first homosexual-themed movie) attracted the ire of the Chinese authorities.

Seventeen Years is a more conventional work and met with state approval, but is nevertheless a powerful film winning Zhang numerous awards including Best Director prize at the 56th Venice Film Festival.

Another controversial director, Lu Chuan, will be flying in to attend the festival and introduce his latest film, City of Life and Death, to audiences at its Welsh premiere on 30 October at Aberystwyth Arts Centre and at the closing cermony in Cardiff on 31 October.

City of Life and Death (or Nanjing! Nanjing! as it is known in China) caused a sensation earlier this year when it opened in Chinese cinemas. The film depicts the infamous "rape of Nanjing" during WWII, when the then capital city was captured by Japanese troops and thousands of citizens massacred.

The event still sours Sino-Japanese relations to this day, and following the release of the film, Lu Chuan received thousands of death threats against himself and his family because of what some Chinese felt was an overly-sympathetic portrayal of Japanese soldiers in the film.

Although a difficult subject to deal with, the film has been hailed by critics for its level-headed approach to the subject and its technical virtuosity.

While in Wales, Mr. Lu will also deliver a masterclass to Film and Media students from the universities in Carmarthen, Lampeter and Aberystwyth.

Other films on offer include Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, King of Masks; Shower; and the 1961 musical Liu San Jie (AKA Third Sister Liu), a kind of Chinese Sound of Music.

For the full festival programme, visit the festival website which is linked on the right hand side of this page.