Switching on the lights

Official Expo movie extends the hand of global friendship

Director Zhou Yaping's movie City of Lights, the official documentary for the Expo, does more than highlight Shanghai. The movie takes audiences around the world, with scenes shot in Venice, Paris, Hanover and many other cities.

Explaining the title of the movie, Zhou said he considers culture, emotion and temperament as the "lights of a city", and those lights are switched on by warm hearts and good deeds.

"We must have positive thoughts and that is what I tried to convey in the movie," he said. "It's also the main objective of the Expo - a platform for communication and goodwill.

"I wish people from different cultures and countries could be one family."

Zhou said he wants to enhance the concept of a global village through the documentary. "I believe the ultimate goal of the Expo is to gather people together and let them talk with each other."

Zhou said the idea of combining different cities in the movie was inspired by his work at Expo 2005 Aichi. While working at the China Pavilion during Suzhou Week, a performance he directed combined the city's Kunqu opera and Japanese Noh drama. The audience appreciated such combination of cultures.

"Communication between different ethnicities and cultures is crucial. And it is also the core theme of City of Lights - bringing people together," he said.

Zhou said that through his movie he wanted to portray the Expo as a big party, where everybody comes together with their hopes and dreams.

Making the movie wasn't easy, especially because it required shooting in many different locations. Zhou said his crew had a few problems when filming abroad. For example, they had to wait in a Hanover train station for a few hours in order to record sounds. The crew was also stuck at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport because of snowstorms in Europe.

"Luckily, we made it. We are thankful to everyone who helped during the long trip."

China Daily

(China Daily 05/07/2010 page36)