China National Film Museum (CNFM) is entirely the largest professional museum all over the world. Founded in 2005 in celebration of 100 years of Chinese cinema, CNFM is designed to showcase the history of Chinese cinema, to host film technology expos, and many academic exchanges and research in order to advance cinema culture both in China and worldwide. CNFM has 20 permanent exhibition halls and some temporary spaces and multifunctional halls for exhibition and meetings. In addition, CNFM has one IMAX theatre, one digital projection theater and three 35mm projection theatres.
CNFM was an outcome of a joint effort of RTKL International Inc., headquartered in the United States and the Beijing Construction Design Institution. It occupies an area of 65 acres northeast of Beijing, with an architectural space of 38,000 square meters. The design of the architecture reflects the concept of reaching harmony between film arts and architectural innovation. It is known not only for the designer’s visual power but also its ability to provide the audience with a complete intimate experience of contemporary cinema culture.
The grand exterior complex features the design of the giant screen and slanted serial structures resembling the effect of the clipboard. The surface of the building in black which decorated with an engraving effect has created a mysterious allure to this grand audio visual palace of art. The four colors of the unique vertical surface of the central hall which consist of red, green, blue and yellow are on the other hand resemble four different functions of the museum: Exhibition, Expo, Theatre and Services. The interior of the museum is decorated in black, white and gray. The combination of these three colors has set a quiet backdrop which enhances the brilliant colors of the giant glass windows and those of the circular hall.
You need to walk for almost 3 kilometers in order to go round all the exhibition halls in the museum. CNFM houses 1500 films, and 4300 stills from works of 450 filmmakers. The shows organized by top film experts approved by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) present the most authoritative information and knowledge about film arts in China. CNFM is a great masterpiece achieved by a large group of authoritative experts and scholars in various fields of film entertainments through utmost efforts, and it offers the most authoritative，professional and multifarious exhibitions of film entertainments.