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Belarus, China sign agreement on joint film production
MINSK, 20 November (BelTA) - Belarus and China have signed an agreement on joint film production. The document has been signed by Director General of Belarusfilm Yuri Aleksei and film and TV actor, producer Lei Han, BelTA has learned.
The ceremony was attended by Belarusian Culture Minister Anatoly Markevich and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Belarus Xie Xiaoyong. “We have never put relations with our Chinese partners on pause,” Anatoly Markevich said. “We continued working together even in the difficult times of the pandemic. Maybe our cooperation was not as active as we would like it to be, but we exchanged information and planned further work. Today we are reaching a whole new level in cinematography, as we have already developed very close relations on other projects. You know that the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra successfully toured China this autumn. We also took an active part in the Silk Road Cultural Forum, which was held in Dunhuang. The Days of Belarus in China took place a bit earlier. Over three months alone we had more than 4 million participants, which is very good, which means our plans were implemented. As for the cinematography, we had been looking for areas that would be of interest to both the Chinese and Belarusian viewers for some time. Today we have reached an agreement on joint film production. This is the first time in our history that we are launching a joint project with our Chinese partners, friends.”
According to the minister, the film will have an amazing plot. “It will reflect the friendship of our peoples, our countries, which is laid down by the leaders of the two states. The document formulates clear instructions for the film to be interesting, positive and, of course, reflecting the prospects of our further cooperation through emotions, feelings and through concrete steps that let us make sure that we are on the right path. We are set to meet in China in January to decide on our concrete steps. This film should be coming soon, but that does not mean we will be doing it in a hurry. We will be shooting locations in our native Belarus, its most beautiful places, meet people. We will be doing the same in China. We have a lot of good events ahead of us, and I am sure that we will make our viewers happy,” Anatoly Markevich said.
Xie Xiaoyong called it a milestone event. “This is the first movie production between China and Belarus in the history of cultural cooperation between the countries. Our interstate relations are working very well thanks to the strategic guidance and joint care of our leaders. China-Belarus relations have maintained good momentum in their development. Last September, our leaders met in Samarkand on the sidelines of the SCO and decided to raise the level of relations between our countries to an all-weather, comprehensive strategic partnership. This is the highest level of interstate relations. Today's event, when Chinese and Belarusian filmmakers agreed to work on a joint film, is a concrete project to expand cooperation in the field of culture and cinematography between our countries. I am confident that it will be successful and fruitful. I have no doubt in the success of this whole process of cooperation,” the ambassador said.
The new Belarusian-Chinese film will be about love between young people. “The creative team has already arrived in Belarus, and started to conduct preliminary casting with Belarusian actors. The decision on the main parts will be taken before 20 January. The film will be shot both in China and Belarus. The creative team is currently traveling around the country, inspecting locations, and will take a decision on what to include in the script. The script is in the process of finalization. The film will have a happy ending, because its leitmotif is love and friendship between our peoples,” said Wang Xiaomeng, film producer, member of the Committee on Chinese Emigrants of the National People's Congress, chairperson of the Association of Chinese Compatriots' Organizations Huaqiao.
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