China-Pakistan friendship celebrated in film coproduction

ISLAMABAD — On an early August evening, a pin-drop silence enveloped the space in the main auditorium of the Pakistan National Council of Arts, despite the presence of hundreds of people. They were completely engrossed in a film, which is a joint effort by Chinese and Pakistani producers.

The audience was captivated by a young Chinese woman's journey from China to Pakistan along the Karakoram highway to work as a translator at a China-built hydropower project that provides cheap and clean electricity to Pakistan.

The previously serene atmosphere in the auditorium was suddenly filled with a loud round of applause and cheers from the audience when, in a movie scene, the Chinese woman wanted to pay the bus fare for her ride, but the Pakistani driver warmly refused, saying, "Chinese people don't need to pay! Pakistan and China are real brothers!" The crowd joyously chanted, "Yes, it's true!"

The first major coproduction by Chinese and Pakistani producers, the film Ba'Tie Girl, which means the girl from ironclad-brotherly Pakistan, revolves around the friendship between a Chinese woman and a Pakistani teenage girl, who both share a love for football.

As the story develops, the Chinese woman acts as a rock-solid support for her Pakistani friend, empowering her to discover her inner strength and bravely confront the hardships that came her way, eventually overcoming the challenges.

"The Chinese lady's character reminded me of China, which always backs Pakistan and proves to be its unwavering pillar of support in all testing times," says Khalid, who came from the Attock district of Punjab to watch the movie.

Launched in 2013, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, under which China has invested billions of dollars to help Pakistan overcome its electricity shortage by building power plants and improve connectivity by spreading a network of roads across the country, has enhanced people-to-people exchanges in Pakistan.

Following the launch of the CPEC a decade ago, thousands of Chinese workers and engineers came to Pakistan on CPEC projects, and hundreds of thousands traveled to China for education, professional training, business, and other opportunities.

Talking about people-to-people exchanges, the film's Pakistani coproducer Syed Jamal Shah says that the journey of the young Chinese woman to Pakistan and her interaction with Pakistani culture in the coproduction gives a good glimpse into the culture of both countries.

"Trade and commerce under the CPEC have great economic importance, but building bridges through art and culture means a lot because these bridges are much stronger and long-standing as they bring people closer to each other," Shah says.

Talking about the driving factor behind coproducing the movie, the Chinese producer Xie Peng says that, through different incidents, he understood the strong bond of friendship between China and Pakistan, and has heard many stories that demonstrate the friendship between the two countries.

The coproduction is being seen as the first major step toward long-awaited China-Pakistan cooperation in the field of films and dramas, aimed at reviving Pakistan's film industry.

Zafar Uddin Mahmood, special assistant to the prime minister of Pakistan and former special envoy for the CPEC, says the movie will inspire other filmmakers to work in coproduction with China.

The project also proved to be a good learning experience for the Pakistani cast, mostly comprising young actors, some of whom also learned Chinese for the movie, which is mainly shot in English and Mandarin.

Suraj Khan, one of the main leads upon whom the audience heaped praise for his comedic performance, says that he has acted in different theaters and TV dramas in Pakistan, but Ba'Tie Girl has been his most memorable experience.

The movie is scheduled to hit cinemas next week, and it is anticipated to attract a substantial audience due to its engaging storyline, the celebration of Pakistan's friendship with China, and its unique appeal as a commercial movie coproduced with a foreign country.

Xinhua