As a warm up to the annual Shanghai International Film Festival, the French Film Panorama was unveiled in the Shanghai Film Art Center on Tuesday. The event has been held ahead of the Shanghai Film Festival for the past six years.

A dozen visiting French filmmakers and industry figures were on hand to mix with the audience in Shanghai to open the event exhibiting French films. JCVD, an autobiographical film of martial artist and actor Jean-Claude Van Damme was screened as the opening film. The film was selected as the Best film in 2008 by Time Magazine. The event will screen twelve feature films and twelve short films made in France. Feature films include Paris, the competition flick for last year's Shanghai Film Festival, and some of the best in the recent French cinema "I've Loved You So Long", and "Sagan". Some screenings are followed by a Q&A between audience and filmmakers. The French Film Panorama is popular among Shanghai audience and the tickets for some films were sold out before the event opened.