22 | Monday, September 23, 2019 LIFE CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Setting out to grab the spotlight

The recent China International Film “The drama is very popular in Indonesia,” says Gandhi Priambobo, & TV Program Exhibition showed founder and CEO of Red and White, a joint venture between Indonesia how determined domestic producers and China which dubbed the drama are to make inroads into overseas into the local language and distrib­ uted it around the country. markets, Xu Fan reports. A fan of Hong Kong star Stephen Chow, Priambobo says most Indo­ nesians have limited knowledge or most Chinese fans, it was about China, and the best­known a shock to see Mei Changsu, Chinese productions in Indonesia the protagonist of the TV still tend to be Hong Kong action series Nirvana in Fire, a The majority of new films starring Jackie Chan. Froyal period drama set in ancient He says the success of Feather TV programs released China, “speaking” Spanish fluently. Flies to the Sky is largely due to the Interestingly, the character — a simultaneously in growing curiosity about China’s leader of a group of swordsmen — China and abroad booming economy and interest in can also “speak” English and a few how Chinese businessmen conquer more other languages. also saw a obstacles and earn success. These are all different foreign lan­ remarkable rise in In the meantime, more Chinese guage­dubbed versions of Nirvana online views production companies are scouting in Fire, a phenomenal worldwide for overseas locations thanks to big­ hit show that has garnered more overseas.” ger budgets and profits, industry than 16 billion views online. insiders say. Tang Shiding, vice­president of Earlier this year, the TV series China International Television Lu Yan, the chief representative of remade with a Spanish voice­over Corporation the Chinese office with Triton Film aired in Argentina and Mexico, Productions Limited, the largest making it the first commercially studio in Malta, is a witness to this successful Chinese television pro­ change. gram released in either of the two records overseas, Ma says that the He says Malta has a number of countries. series “had opened a window for ancient castles and buildings dating During the 16th China Interna­ overseas audiences, enabling them back to the medieval era, which are tional Film & TV Program Exhibi­ to develop a more comprehensive attracting crews looking for exotic tion, the drama was highlighted understanding of China”. scenery. alongside a string of television pro­ She also says that the administra­ “The buildings are not high and it’s ductions for making successful for­ tion had launched a project, which relatively easy and safe for actors or ays into overseas markets. started in August and will run until stunt performers to hop from one The annual showbiz event held in October, to broadcast 70 quality roof to the other. And most of the Beijing from Sept 11­12 attracted works through more than 60 main­ streets are narrow, allowing cameras industry insiders, producers and stream media platforms and stream­ to capture nerve­wracking action distributors from over 300 organi­ ing sites in around 50 nations. sequences like car chases,” he zations from more than 50 countries The works, mostly reflecting Chi­ explains. and regions. na’s transformation and economic The Chinese film The Curse, a sus­ Over 80,000 episodes of TV dra­ achievements, include the metropoli­ pense thriller, was shot in a castle mas, documentaries and animation tan romance Ode to Joy; popular car­ which hadn’t been opened to the series were on display at the event, toon series New Big­head Son and public for seven decades. according to the organizers. Little­head Father; and the award­ “At least four Chinese studios are Its 93 booths, which covered winning movie Hold Your Hands. currently in negotiations with us, 22,000 square meters at the China Ma says she wants domestic com­ and two others have already decided National Convention Center, also panies to work more with interna­ remarkable rise in online views to shoot their productions in Malta featured forums on the internation­ tional partners to encourage them overseas.” next year,” says Lu. alization of Chinese tales. to seek inspiration from each other’s In recent years, Chinese films and Several ambassadors also attend­ Statistics from the National culture and history. television programs have expanded ed the exhibition. Among them were Radio and Television Administra­ Exemplifying this effort, the Film their influence in Southeast Asia, Ahcene Boukhelfa, the Algerian tion, the country’s top regulator, and TV Import & Export Associa­ Africa and Latin America, with ambassador to China. show that more than 1,600 domes­ tion — an alliance founded in 2017 to some shows even earning more He says Algeria, the largest coun­ tic TV shows have been translated unite top players in China — has views than domestic hits, adds Tang. try in Africa by area, is now home to into 36 languages and shown in seen its membership expand to 66 One such series is Feather Flies to around 60,000 Chinese people. over 100 countries and regions in companies, according to the China the Sky, a 55­episode television dra­ Speaking about the two countries, recent decades. International Television Corpora­ ma chronicling the rise of a busi­ he says they have enjoyed a long his­ With the rapid development of tion, the initiator. nessman and his wife in Yiwu, tory of friendship since China and China’s television industry, the Tang Shiding, the vice­president Zhejiang province, the largest Algeria established diplomatic rela­ country has seen a steady rise in TV of the corporation, says the associa­ wholesale market of small commod­ tions in 1958. content exports year­on­year, says tion members broadcast nearly 500 ities in Asia. He hopes more Chinese compa­ Ma Li, the director­general of the TV shows of around 10,000 episodes The series has been exported to 15 nies will consider his country as a international cooperation depart­ overseas in 2018. nations, including Russia, South location to shoot future film and TV ment with the administration, at a Pointing to a new trend, Tang This year’s China International Film & TV Program Exhibition Korea and Portugal, and it has made productions. forum during the exhibition. says: “The majority of new TV pro­ attracts over 300 organizations from all over the world. Popular Chi­ waves in Indonesia, where it was Speaking about domestic dramas grams released simultaneously in nese TV series like Feather Flies to the Sky (top) and Nirvana in Fire one of the top two most­watched TV Contact the writer at that have made a big splash or broken China and abroad also saw a (center) were highlighted at the event. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY programs in October. [email protected] New TV documentary showcases 70 years of development

By CHEN NAN [email protected] The black­and­white A 24­episode documentary, titled On the Great Road, premiered on pictures and footage ... CCTV on Sept 16, to mark the 70th will remind the older anniversary of the founding of New China via a panoramic showcase of generations of the the country’s progress and develop­ hardships the country ment since 1949. It has been aired daily on CCTV­1 and its people had and will run through Friday, with gone through. For the each episode lasting about 40 min­ utes. younger generations, The series, which traces the coun­ they will learn about try’s achievements, takes its name from a popular Chinese song writ­ history.” ten by Li Jiefu in 1963. Yan Dong, director of On the According to the director of the Great Road documentary, Yan Dong, over 450 The production team of On the Great Road has traveled across the country to visit historic sites such as Xibaipo (left), the former headquar­ people divided into eight teams ters of the Communist Party of China, and the world’s highest railway on the Qinghai­Tibet Plateau. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY drove over 37,000 kilometers and traveled to around 25 provinces and regions across the country to shoot which marked the 80th anniversary also tells the stories of the struggles to Chinese aerodynamics and rocket Hong Kong and Macao in 1997 and and studied many documents. We the documentary. of the end of the epic military expe­ and sacrifices people made for their science. 1999, the 1990 Asian Games and are happy to present China through The series began with the birth of dition of the Red Army led by the country. “Today, we are proud of the coun­ 2008 Olympic Games are also pre­ these true stories about the tremen­ New China on Oct 1, 1949. The cere­ Communist Party of China to com­ “The black­and­white pictures try’s great achievements and one of sented in the series. dous changes in the country.” mony where Chairman Mao Zedong bat the Kuomintang regime during and footage, some of which had nev­ them is the aviation industry. Qian The last 10 episodes portray the Since its premiere, the series has officially announced the founding of the civil war. er been shown before, will remind made invaluable contributions to country’s development since 2012, met with a positive reaction online. the People’s Republic China to the The first seven episodes of the the older generations of the hard­ the establishment and development especially since the 18th Commu­ One netizen comments: “I world saw 200,000 people gather in new series focus on the years before ships the country and its people had of China’s aviation industry. We want nist Party of China National Con­ watched the documentary with my Tian’anmen Square. 1978. gone through. For the younger gen­ to honor Qian and others like him.” gress held that year. grandparents, and they shared lots “It (that moment) marks the Valuable historical footage show erations, they will learn about histo­ The documentary series also Speaking about the preparations of memories about their youth and beginning of great social change in audiences a country going through ry, and especially about the people shows the achievements made after made for the series, one of the script­ how they grew up through the coun­ the country and it is the start point historic change, such as how the who made great contributions to 1978, when China began imple­ writers Liu Yue says: “We prepared try’s changes.” for all the stories we wanted to tell in government transformed the face of the country,” says Yan. menting its reform and opening­up the script for about seven months and Another comment reads: “The the documentary,” says Yan, who is society by carrying out land reforms He also gives an example of Qian policy. The country then ushered in there were many stories which country has gone through a lot of known for directing the eight­epi­ and ensuring women’s rights were Xuesen (1911­2009), a prominent a new era of modernization and touched and impressed us. hardships to achieve what it has sode documentary, The Long March, recognized and protected by law. It Chinese scientist who contributed industrialization. The handover of “We visited many historic sites today.”