Lu Chuan's new Disney film meets audiences
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E-mail CRI, August 12, 2016
Famous Chinese director Lu Chuan's new film 'Born in China', a wildlife drama, will hit theatres on Friday, August 12th.
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Chinese actress Zhou Xun (left) and film producer Roy Conli (right) attend a press conference ahead of the premiere of a wildlife drama 'Born in China' on August 4, 2016 in Beijing. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com] |
Before its release, it's already in the spotlight due to a strong collaboration between Chinese and international filmmakers that may ensure the quality of this upcoming 9th Disney nature film.
Lu Chuan directed several films last year, including a controversial adventure fantasy film "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" or Gui Chui Deng Zhi Jiu Ceng Yao Ta in Chinese.
However, according to the director, his latest film 'Born in China, or "Wo Men Dan Sheng Zai Zhong Guo" in Chinese required a longer period of time in shooting.
At the film's premiere, Lu Chuan recalled how he embarked on this project.
"When Disney approached me with this idea of making wild animals into real movie characters, I got stunned by this crazy idea. Personally, I'm very fond of wildlife, so I wanted to try this brave endeavor, but unexpectedly, three years have gone by for this project."
'Born in China' is a wildlife drama that follows the families of endangered animals and it also marks collaboration between the Disneynature Company, Shanghai Media Group and a team of cinema photographers from the U.K. as Lu Chuan explains:
"Three teams of people, from China, U.K. and Disney nature, have cooperated in filming Born in China. Roy Conli is a top-level producer from Disney nature, who understands the storylines, and the process of artistic production. The U.K team is composed of cinema photographers who are professionals in shooting wildlife. The Chinese team made arduous efforts in terms of our collaboration with local nature reserve authorities as well as the delivery of all filming equipments."
It has also been disclosed at the premiere that the film will showcase the spectacular wildlife and natural beauty of China. Three animal families in the remote wilds of China - panda bear, golden monkey and snow leopard are the protagonists.
Meanwhile, it also includes rare footage of endangered snow leopards.
Roy Conli is the film producer.
"We were looking for real imagery. We are not in any way trying to get the animals to act. For instance, in Dava's story, it wasn't until the last day of a three-month stay in Qinghai did Shane Moore actually catch the first footage of Dava (Dava is the snow leopard.) so there are conversations about 'Do we abandon this? Do we stop looking for snow leopards, because they are the most difficult thing in the world to film! But I'm happy to say we kept going."
Another noticeable feature about this film 'Born in China' is the dubbing from famous Chinese actress Zhou Xun. Zhou Xun also appears as the poster child for the upcoming Disney-nature film.
Lu Chuan explains why Zhou Xun was selected to do the dubbing.
"We chose Zhou Xun because she has a masculine voice, but is still mellow and pure."
Born in China kicked off a first-ever cooperation between the two heavyweights in China's film industry.
Becoming an indispensable part of the film now, Zhou Xun said she actually felt incredible after watching the film.
"I couldn't believe the film was shot by director Lu Chuan after I watched it. 'Born in China' shows the director's deep affection for wildlife."
The wildlife drama centers on the epic stories of animal families, depicting how they lead their lives with love and mutual assistance from birth to growth and how they confront their most dangerous enemies.
The wildlife drama is another milestone from Chinese filmmakers to arouse public concern on the protection of wildlife, particularly wild pandas and snow leopards in China, as well as the environment in which they live in.
Earlier, The Mermaid, by veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Stephen Chow, also aimed to call for increasing efforts in marine environment protection.
In addition, Disney has announced "Born in China" will open in U.S. theaters Earth Day 2017.
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