Through the lens of a camera and the eyes of a director, a whole new world opens up and invites people in to explore a culture different from their own. This is the purpose of the Confucius Institute’s Chinese Movie Night.

The University of Idaho’s Confucius Institute puts on the movie night event to give people an opportunity to immerse themselves into Chinese culture through its cinema. Accompanying the movie presentation, a lecturer comes and leads a discussion about the film.

“I would describe it as exciting,” said Dusty Fleener, administrative coordinator for the Confucius Institute. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for people to come and enjoy Chinese cinema.”

Confucius Institute’s mission is to improve the mutual understanding of Chinese language and culture, using Chinese Movie Night as a window into Chinese culture, said Hexian Xue, the Chinese co-director for Confucius Institute from South China University of Technology.

Since Chinese Movie Night’s start in February of 2013, Xue and the UI Confucius Institute American co-director Matthew Wappett have worked to keep the program regular, showing one movie each month. The choosing of the movies goes to Jianhong Lu, a foreign language instructor from South China University who has been a visiting instructor at UI since 2013.

“The first several movies I just wanted to show movies … related from Chinese culture,” Lu said. “I want to show Chinese movies to promote diversity.”

Lu not only chose the film- she also researched the movie and will give a lecture before the film to talk about the director, famous actors in the movie, and the film’s cultural significance, Fleener said. Following the movie will be a question-answer session with the audience.

The movie in question is titled “CZ12,” a Jackie Chan action flick that tells the story of adventurer Asian Fox, played by Chan, recovering bronze busts depicting the 12 animals of the zodiac. The film, set in modern-day China, has an “Indiana Jones” feel, Wappett said.

“From a Western perspective, China suffered a little bit over the past 50 years and lost … visibility,” Wappett said. “(The movie has) lots of positive aspects (in terms of) reclaiming Chinese culture.”

Films chosen in the past have ranged from action-adventure kung fu to romantic comedies, Fleener said. Some are in Chinese with English subtitles and others, like “CZ12,” are mostly in English. The purpose of the films is to stimulate the mind and be a learning opportunity.

“Film is a good way to convey a lot of information to people in an easily-digestible format,” Fleener said.

The concept can travel across cultures. Watching the Chinese films gives people a window into Chinese culture that wouldn’t normally be there, Wappett said. The use of film as a medium also works to portray American culture, Xue said.

Along with the movie, audience members will be given a chance to experience the culture of China through its food. Some of the cuisine offered includes fried rolls as well as fried and stirred noodles.

The energetic feel and comedy of the movie should help UI students kick off their new semester, which starts today, Lu said. “CZ12” is not just meant to be entertaining, but also show a different culture and an encouraging spirit.

“I want to show something special, that we’re not just for the entertainment … but more professional,” Lu said.

Chinese Movie Night will be held at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre today and is free to the public. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the movie will begin at 7 p.m.