What's new

Green and never seen

A former US vice-president and a Hollywood mega star spearhead a couple of newly release environmental documentaries never before seen in China.

The 11th Hour is co-produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and includes interviews with more than 50 scientists, thinkers and international leaders. The film focuses on mankind's insensitivity to the environment, consumption of limited resources and over-reliance on fossil fuels, which will soon make the planet uninhabitable for future generations.

The Academy Award-winning An Inconvenient Truth is presented by former US vice-president Al Gore.

The documentary gives a straightforward record of Gore's tour speeches on global warming before 2006.

The theme, how global warming affects the atmosphere, is aided by before-and-after photos, computerized charts, archival footage and even cartoons.

CAV Warner Home Entertainment have released both videos.

Hair we go

Chinese Medical Association (CMA) and cosmetics company L'Oreal have launched a new group, which will investigate into hair and skin conditions of Chinese.

The group consists of former winners of L'Oreal research grants and will provide a platform of scientific exchange between international scientists in hair and skin research.

Professor Cheng Bo from the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, professor Chen Zhou from the People's Hospital of Peking University and Doctor Yan Yan from Peking Union Medical College Hospital gave presentations of their study program applying for the grant.

The CMA-L'Oreal Skin & Hair Grant started in 2003 to fund the research into hair and skin physiology of Chinese people. So far, they have received nearly 300 program ideas and spent 2.2 million yuan to fund 50 of them.

Award focuses on quality TV films

More than 100 noted directors and actors attended eighth Movie Channel Lily Award's prize-giving ceremony on May 9, Beijing, including Gu Changwei (pictured) and Ge You.

Host by CCTV-6 the movie channel, the award focused on promoting quality TV films. This year's awards went to five TV films including Chess King (Qi Wang) and Love Big as Sky (Da Ai Ru Tian).

Movie Channel has produced more than 1,000 TV films since its establishment in 1996, many of which were winners at Golden Rooster or Full Blossom festivals, known as China's Academy Awards. In 2007, the channel presented 122 TV films.

Folk dance festival

The first China Yangge Festival was held in Qingdao and Jiaozhou of Shandong province over the weekend.

Yangge is a collective folk dance popular in many areas of China. The festival gathered 16 yangge dance groups, representing various local styles of yangge, including groups from Haicheng of Liaoning province, Ansai from Shaanxi province, and Luzhou of Sichuan province.

The highlight of the festival was Welcoming the Olympic with Yangge, a yangge dance performed by nearly 10,000 people at the May 4th Square of Qingdao.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/13/2008 page18)