Couple acts in sad love story

Ni Ni, lead actress of The Flowers of War, Zhang Yimou's emotional drama in 2011, acts with her boyfriend Feng Shaofeng in Love Will Tear Us Apart, a romantic tearjerker. Directed by young helmer Li Weiran, the two play a couple deeply in love but end up torturing each other. Ni, 25, stood out from thousands of candidates to act opposite Christian Bale in The Flowers of War in 2011. In the film, she played a prostitute who saved young students from Japanese soldiers in the Nanking Massacre in 1937. Love Will Tear Us Apart will premiere later this year.

Best friends in real and reel life

Taiwan pop singer Christine Fan makes her big-screen debut in The Stolen Years, a romantic drama to be released on Aug 22. Fan plays the best friend of the heroine, who loses her memory but gains a better relationship with her boyfriend. The heroine is portrayed by mainland actress Bai Baihe, a good friend of Fan in real life too. Fan also writes and sings the film's theme song. The film was nominated for best picture in the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival in June but did not win. Director Barbara Wong is known for her two documentaries, which interviewed men and women of various social walks to talk about their opinion on sex and relationship.

Lunar scientist inspires children

China's chief scientist for its lunar probe project, Ouyang Ziyuan, recently gave a speech to students from two Beijing middle schools. Titled My Dream of Lunar Probing, the scientist talked about his life experience, China's lunar probe project development and the future directions. He also answered questions asked by students such as when will China land a man on the moon and will the moon disappear in the future? The speech was organized by the China Children's Press and Publication Group, which aimed to inspire the young generation's interest in space science.

Stone sculptures to be restored

A total of 14 pieces of stone carving in the Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum will be restored for the first time, the museum announced recently. The pieces, some of which dated back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), are handpicked from more than 1,000 pieces in the museum in terms of their historical value and damage status. The restoration process will take more than a year. The program is part of Merrill Lynch's 2013 Art Conservation Project. The project has sponsored 57 projects in 25 countries all over the world since 2010. This is the first time for Beijing to receive international financial help to restore stone carving.

Beijing's touch in Depp's movie

Beijing-based DMG Entertainment is teaming up with Alcon Entertainment to finance, produce and distribute Johnny Depp's 2014 tentpole film Transcendence, said DMG CEO Wu Bing. Christopher Nolan works as producer. Wally Pfister, his cinematographer of the Dark Knight series, directs the film, starring also Morgan Freeman and Rebecca Hall. It will be released globally in April 2014. The two companies will also work on the reboot of Point Break, a 1991 film starring Keanu Reeves. DMG will distribute both films in China, while Warner Brothers handles the North American distribution. DMG's previous US-China co-production experiences include Looper and Iron Man 3.

French public shows reach more audiences

A show titled Urban Distortion ran at the Henderson Shopping Center recently as part of the annual Festival Croisements organized by French embassy in China. Following the dance performed by Chinese girls, French artist Pierre Larauza and dancer Emmanuelle Vincent performed in a big plastic bubble. Singer Matthieu Ha sang French songs. It is one of the shows that Festival Croisements presented in a public space. Vincent says she hopes the shows outside the theaters could reach more audiences.

China Daily

(China Daily USA 07/23/2013 page10)