iQIYI, a Chinese Streaming site with over 10 million paying customers, recently made a deal with the British Film Institute that would allow BFI an opportunity to expand into the Chinese market. Currently the agreement allows the BFI to curate a section of films iQIYI, and will be an exclusive VOD partner for the London Film Festival collection.
“Online movie streaming transcends time and space to allow more Chinese movie fans to watch world-class films in real time. iQIYI is committed to providing the best streaming service for our users. BFI London Film Festival has movies with great variety, including full-length features, short features and documentaries. We are looking forward to further enhancing our cooperation with BFI in the future.” – Yang Xianghua, iQIYI svp.
To make it less hard for Chinese audiences navigate, films have been curated into four categories, these include, “Growing Pains, Foreign Adventures, Family Anecdotes, and Social Perspectives.” Some titles in the selection include: ‘Up In The Air,’ ‘Captain Phillips’ and ‘Wadjda.’ The British Film Institute won’t stop with just this enterprise either; the BFI is looking to form more like partnerships all over the globe.