After its successful debut spotlighting films of India at last year's festival, the Milwaukee Film Festival's Passport program will return to the screen for 2012's Passport: China.

This year's lineup will showcase a selection of eight documentary and fiction films made by Chinese and foreign filmmakers and set in mainland China. The program will address historical and contemporary themes and explore the many cultural facets of the world's most populous nation.

"We're thrilled to continue our Passport program with China," Milwaukee Film Artistic & Executive Director Jonathan Jackson said in a release.

"The Passport program is the epitome of the film festival experience and is an opportunity for our audience to travel to another country from their cinema seat. We're hoping that Passport: China resonates extra with Milwaukee film-goers, in light of last year's 'Summer of China' exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum and our city's burgeoning relationship with Chinese business and political leaders."

The Passport: China film lineup will feature screenings of "11 Flowers," "High Tech, Low Life," "Let the Bullets Fly," "Old Dog," "Romancing in Thin Air" and "Sacrifice."

In addition to the films, the program will also feature a panel discussion on "Chinese Cinema in a Transnational Frame" with keynote speaker Dr. Jennifer Feeley of the University of Iowa, moderated by Dr. Jian Xu of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The 2012 Milwaukee Film Festival runs Sept. 27-Oct. 11. For more information on films and venues, visit mkefilm.org.