Chinese movie about two dream-catching girls of Naxi ethnic minority, has been invited by two international film festival in North America and Europe.

 

The movie, A Dumb Girl in the Snow-capped Mountain, will attend the Montreal International Film Festival this August and the Vienna International Film Festival this October, Han Zhijun, the film's director and producer told Xinhua News Agency on its China's premiere in Beijing on Tuesday.

 

The movie follows Hena (Yang Mei's character), a dumb Naxi girl, who conquers tribulation and becomes the local dancing queen with the help of his elder sister (played by Cui Bo), local singing queen and a Viennese boy.

 

The movie, winner of the Best Costume Design at the 1st Cyprus International Film Festival this March, tries to explore how to protect and develop the ancient Dongba culture of their own, which is famed for its mysterious hieroglyphics and religion.

 

 

With only 300,000 population, Naxi people boast two UNESCO World Heritages sites in their hometown - the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas and the Old Town of Lijiang. The Naxi Dongba Literature Manuscripts are also included in the UNESCO World Memory Program, all of which appear in the movie.

 

The dancing-craving dumb girl often plays on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, a glacier closest to equator on the Northern Hemisphere, which also showcases the local arresting landscape.

 

The movie will be released on the Chinese mainland on Wednesday and in Greece and Cyprus in September, according to Han.

 

"We'll continue to confer with overseas vendees in Montreal and Vienna," he added.

 

"With the beautiful scenes, vivid characters, their splendid singing and dancing and deep sentiment, the movie is one of the outstanding ethnic-minority-theme movies in China over recent years," said Tong Gang, director of the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, at the premiere.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2006)