Telling a Chinese story against an international backdrop 

Mike Medavoy was born in Shanghai. He grew up in the city before moving to Hollywood and beginning a 50-year career as one of its most successful producers with 300 films - and 18 Oscar nominees, including, most recently, Black Swan - under his belt.

Medavoy seems to have a special affinity for the city that provided his Jewish family with shelter in the chaos of war. After producing Shanghai, the 2010 thriller starring John Cusack, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe and Chow Yun-fat, Medavoy is developing another "property", Hollywood parlance for a possible film, based on a Chinese novel.

A Jewish Piano is set in Shanghai during World War II and focuses on a Jewish family escaping war in Eastern Europe and ending up in the tumultuous Chinese metropolis. Penned by Shanghai writer Beila, the pen name of Shen Lei, the story has everything required for a Hollywood-style epic, according to Medavoy. But on top of the majestic sweep spanning 40 years and the turmoil of history, it is essentially a tragic love story akin to Titanic, explained Medavoy. It has the potential to transcend races, or national boundaries. One can even say the story has that ability built-in.

Medavoy wants to make it into an epic in the style of David Lean's Doctor Zhivago. Only by producing a great film can we defy the inertia and ignorance of those who do not have the knowledge or willingness to learn of that time and the humanity that rises above the din, he said.

Coincidentally, this is also a story that Ren Zhonglun wants to tell. The president and chairman of Shanghai Film Group feels his mission is to "tell Chinese stories to the world", and this is a perfect story for that purpose, in his opinion.

Ren is partnering with Medavoy on the project because of the Black Swan producer's understanding of the international market and his talented production team. Ren sees it "as a Chinese movie at its core" but with multinational elements. It will touch on both Chinese and Jewish culture, but inspired by a book about the making of Gone With the Wind, he interprets it as "a love story against the background of war".

"Out of all the movies we have watched," said Ren, "90 percent are about things we are not familiar with. Art has the ability to extend your experience. So, whether a film is about the ancient past or a distant land, it has to address the human experience. It does not matter whether its historical background or social customs are foreign to the audience."

A Jewish Piano is currently in development. It is one of several co-productions Shanghai Film Group is involved in. "Twenty years ago, we assisted in foreign productions; and 10 years ago, we started having co-productions, which is a safe approach as if wading into the sea with a buoy," says Ren.

But "it is time we had real co-productions, to tell worldwide stories. This may succeed or may fail, but it is necessary to explore that approach so that Chinese cinema may eventually be part of world cinema."

Ren recounts what he heard on his frequent trips to Hollywood: "Every country makes movies for its own people, such as Indian films for Indians and Chinese films for Chinese. When I ask what audience American filmmakers have in mind, they say small-town American. Because America is racially diverse, they end up making movies for the whole world."

Raymond Zhou