What's new

Enter the third dimension

The first ever three-dimensional animated feature film created by Chinese artists will hit theaters on Jan 28, two days after the Chinese Spring Festival.

CCTV Animation Inc, backed by CCTV, China's largest television network, produced Carnival of the Animals. Costing over 30 million yuan ($4.3 million), the film depicts the adventures of a bear, a kangaroo and a donkey in a forest.

The film features the music of French composer Saint Saens, and the voice of the hosts of CCTV's Children's Channel, such as Ju Ping, Dong Hao and Liu Chunyan.

China Film Group Corporation (CFGC) will distribute the film nationwide. The two companies have established a strategic partnership, according to which CFGC will distribute more films produced by CCTV Animation Inc, whose next work is about the Monkey King.

Ballet keeps Paris on its toes

A new performance of The Red Detachment of Women debuted last week at the Paris Opera House.

It's a repertoire performance of China's Central Ballet and is well known in the West. The occasion heralds the first time the legendary opera house has hosted a show based on the Chinese revolution.

Based on the novel of the same title, the ballet depicts the liberation of a peasant girl from Hainan island and her subsequent rise in the Chinese Communist Party. The ballet version blends Western and traditional Chinese dancing, shedding new light on China's distinctive ballet.

The patriotic ballet has been warmly welcomed at home and abroad since its 1964 premiere. It was also performed for former US President Richard Nixon during his visit to China in 1972.

An invitation from the Paris Opera House made the visit possible.

$16.7m auction record

An oil painting created by Chinese artist Zhu Zebin to promote the 2010 Asian Games set a new record for Chinese paintings at a recent auction in Singapore.

The artwork, titled Meet in Harmonious Guangzhou, Share the Asiad Passion, went to an unidentified Indonesian bidder at a Jan 4 auction for $16.7 million, China News Service reported.

The artwork depicts 22 Asian women wearing traditional clothes, each dancing or demonstrating a sport. The background shows landmarks of Guangzhou, the southern Chinese city that will host the 2010 Asian Games.

The painting is among more than 100 works that Zhu Zebin has dedicated to the Guangzhou Games. The 49-year-old artist says he fully supports the event and is proud to be a native of Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital city.

Zhu has been a favorite at art auctions in recent years. His work Liftoff, which was also inspired by the Guangzhou Games, brought in $6.14 million at an auction in Taipei last year.

Zhu's works are also popular among diplomats. Little White Rabbits, for example, was snapped up by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, according to the website of the Guangzhou Asian Games.

China Daily-CRI

(China Daily 01/12/2009 page8)