Though it lost out to Martin Scorsese's The Departed for the best picture award at the 79th Academy Awards, the seven-Oscar-nominated Babel did break ground somewhere else-in China. It is one of a handful of foreign films to make it onto China's theater screens so far this year.

On January 24, the same day Babel received its Oscar nominations, film distributor China Film Group Corp. obtained a permit to screen the movie from China's film censor the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).

Rumors that the movie would be shown in China met with much cynicism in the United States, where journalists questioned how a film that included violence, nudity, drugs and sex could make it past the country's censors.

But on March 13, Babel hit 200 screens across China, and unlike many previous Western movies it was shown in its entirely original format, with no dubbing.

Industry insiders say it is a sign of loosening regulations governing the screening of foreign films, which will likely lead to Chinese moviegoers watching more unclipped versions of Oscar and Golden Globe blockbusters in the future.

Early in 2007, the latest 007 movie Casino Royale landed in China, touted as a movie without a single cut. James Bond, the world's most renowned spy, was finally able to demonstrate his charms on China's screens, 45 years after he was first created.

The legendary 007 series is packed with nude scenes, violence and luxury living, once considered unfit for Chinese audiences by the censorship body. At one time Casino Royale would have been rejected because of its gambling-related title alone.

"The new James Bond is acceptable to Chinese audiences," said Weng Li, Deputy General Manager of a branch company under the China Film Group Corp. And not only acceptable, but extremely popular. The movie was a box office smash in China, taking in 45.29 million yuan in the first week to become the country's biggest selling movie.