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Docudramas in China

A documentary is a movie or TV program presenting facts and information, particularly about a historical or social issue. A drama is a literary composition that tells a story, by means of dialogue and action, to be performed by actors. When combining the two together, it becomes a docudrama, a new genre of program that's developing fast in China. Xiaohua has the story.

Reporter:
The Bund is an area that runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River in central Shanghai. Within the former Shanghai international settlement, the Bund has been world-renowned since the 1840s as it is crowded with dozens of exquisite buildings, which once housed numerous banks and trading houses from Britain, the U.S., Russia and Japan, among others. People from all over the world have tried their luck on this Oriental Wall Street, leaving behind many legendary stories.

Now in Shanghai, a film crew is busy working to record the history of this unique place. Director Zhou Bing discusses his production, "The Bund".

"I focus on individual's characters and destinies in this work. It's divided into four parts. The first one concentrates on the conflicts and culture shocks between the Chinese and foreigners when Shanghai was a settlement in the late 19th century. When it came to the 1930s, Shanghai had become a financial center in East Asia. I emphasize two characters, a French entrepreneur and the head of the most powerful gang. The third part talks about the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The leading roles are the revolutionaries."

Jin Shijie, a famous actor from Taiwan, will play Du Yuesheng, the head of the most powerful gang Zhou Bing referred to. As a courteous and gentle scholar, he seems to have no worry about acting as this villain.

"Du Yuesheng is a cruel and cunning role, and I think his personality is appealing. I have read his biography and now am planning to watch the films and documentaries about him. I know many actors have played this figure, but I will perform the part in my own style."

In the meantime, actors from Beijing, Shanghai and abroad have also joined the crew and will perform together. However, if you think they are working on creating a blockbuster, you will have guessed wrong. Produced in conjunction with the China Central Newsreel and Documentary Studio and the Shanghai Media Group, "The Bund" is a docudrama that will greet audiences next April. Though the work contains dramatic plots which are mostly performed by actors, all of the stories are loyal to recorded history. Ying Qiming, director of the Shanghai Media Group's Documentary Channel, tells how they plan to keep the documentary flavor in "The Bund".

"Every story will begin with an old picture or photograph. Then it will gradually turn into a moving picture. For example, one section opens with a photo showing Du Yuesheng attending a wedding. With the help of special effects, it will dissolve into the next scene in which Jin Shijie is acting as him."

A docudrama is a dramatization of actual historical events. The word itself originated in the 1920s and became a separate category belonging to the second half of the twentieth century. Louis de Rochemont, a former producer at the American film studio 20th Century Fox, brought the newsreel aesthetic to films and produced a series of docudramas. Since then, the idea of docudrama quickly spread throughout Western countries.

Almost half a century later, the concept of docudrama was introduced in China and aroused a sensation in the field of film and TV. Gao Feng, director of the China Central Newsreel and Documentary Studio, recalls. "In 1995 China imported a BBC docudrama series called the 'Lost Civilization'. It had a great impact on us documentary workers. To us, inviting actors to perform in documentaries went against the rule of authenticity. But the British did it, and actually they did it very well. Since then, we began to imitate that style."

At first, most of the Chinese docudramas were themed around social affairs and criminal cases. Many experts in the field at first couldn't accept this new method of shooting documentaries. When it came to the 21st century, this situation had greatly changed as docudramas were now recognized by most people, some of which received very high ratings.