Fostering dialogue with artful endeavor

Annual French cultural festival offers ambitious program to give audiences the opportunity to explore multiple disciplines, Fang Aiqing reports.

Portraying the stories of the underwater world with puppetry, a stage adaptation of French author Jules Verne's sci-fi masterpiece Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was held in Shenzhen on April 11-12, marking the opening of the 19th Festival Croisements.

Launched in 2006, the annual cultural festival organized by the French embassy in China and the French Institute of Beijing encourages and facilitates exchanges between artists and institutions from China and France.

From April to July, more than 300 events, including stage performances, art exhibitions and a French film panorama, will take place in 31 cities across China.