Setting the scene for movie cooperation

Many Chinese can still clearly remember the plots of movies made in the former Yugoslavia, such as Walter defends Sarajevo and The Bridge.

When he met Tomislav Nikolic, and his delegation in Beijing recently, President Xi Jinping told the Serbian president that he can still whistle the theme from The Bridge.

In June, before he arrived in Serbia on a visit, an article Xi wrote for a local newspaper said the movies had kindled patriotic passion among the people of the two countries for many years.

"Both the Chinese president and premier know those movies well," said Vladan Vukosavljevic, Serbia's culture minister. The two countries have agreed to strengthen cooperation on films and will produce a commercial movie soon.

"We have the idea of refreshing people's memories. Basically, it will be commercial movie that will attract moviegoers worldwide," he said, adding that China has already offered to provide TV and film studios in Beijing.

He said the movie should be shot in both Serbia and in China to help Serbian people to learn more about its Asian partner: "I was impressed by the huge economic development I saw last year during my first visit, and this year. People in Serbia should see this."

He suggested those developments should be wrapped in a modern story about young people, depicting their lives, thoughts, loves and how they view the world.

"But inside that story, we should also show the deep roots of our cultural cooperation and connections. Some music from those old films could be used in the new movie," he said. "The story should be contemporary, and I would like the movie to be seen by audiences in China and across the world."

He said it would be an excellent opportunity to make a movie that will not just show culture, traditions and tourist spots: "We will try to make a really good movie that will be shown at international film festivals."

He believes Chinese directors and actors have great potential, saying many are now gaining global recognition in the fields of movies, visual arts and contemporary art.

"The country's excellent film directors have won many prizes worldwide. So China is not only jumping into the future economically, it is also taking big steps in the world of contemporary culture. It has a lot of things to show the world."