Environmental films move DC audiences

Poster of Born in China, which looks at the wildlife and natural beauty unique to China. The movie is directed by Lu Chuan and coproduced by Disneynature and Shanghai Media Group. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

WASHINGTON — Sarah Esquivel and her children stood in line Sunday afternoon an hour before the DC premiere of Born in China to guarantee good seats to watch China's homegrown pandas, golden monkeys, snow leopards, Tibetan antelopes and red-crowned cranes at the National Museum of American History.

"My daughter really likes Bao Bao (the former National Zoo panda)," she said. "We're sad to see Bao Bao go back (to China), so we decided to come to see the movie."

Unfortunately, some were turned away even after arriving early because the 300-seat capacity at the auditorium was quickly reached.

The screening was part of the 25th DC Environmental Film Festival held from March 14 to March 26 at museums, embassies, libraries, universities and local theaters.

The festival is the largest and longest-running environmental film festival in the United States. Each March in Washington, the festival presents more than 150 films to an audience of over 27,000, according to its website.

Born in China looks at the wildlife and natural beauty unique to China. Directed by top film director Lu Chuan and coproduced by Disneynature and Shanghai Media Group, the movie will be released in the US on April 21, one day before Earth Day. Its Chinese version was released last August.

"What was so wonderful was seeing the respect and appreciation that the Chinese people have for their wildlife," said Paul Baribault, vice-president of Walt Disney Studios' animation marketing and Disneynature.

"They were so excited to see how beautiful the mountains and rivers and streams and environments are and how rich they are with wildlife and wonderful stories."

The movie's release in China was almost a celebration, he said. Now the American audience will "get to see wildlife in China that many audiences won't have any idea exists. They'll get to see the remarkable beauty of China. And I think many audiences in the US have never got to see that side of China," Baribault said.

Erika Simonian of New York happened to be in Washington and took her two daughters to see the natural wildlife in the movie and learn about some of the animals they thought were endangered, with which they were not familiar.

Westerners see China only as "cities like Beijing or Shanghai — all the skylines and developed buildings. No. The country is so big, and there are so many people," said Sherry Chen, who also watched the movie.

"I would like to see more of this kind of films. There are so many wonderful scenes in China — animal, natural scenery and even just talking about the common folks and culture and everything. There's a lot of space to continue," she continued.

She believes events such as the film festival help break stereotypes.

Following Born in China, another film titled Plastic China also drew crowds that afternoon.