China Calls for Love

Implementing the agreement on international relationship with China, a film festival of Chinese cinematic jewels will be held from April 4 to 6 in Colombo and Kandy. The film screening will be at 3pm and 6.oo on April 4 and 5 at BMICH Cinema Hall and three shows at Sigiri Cinema Katugastota on April 6 at 10.30 am, 2.30 pm and 6 pm.

The opening ceremony for the festival will be held at the National Film Corporation (NFC) cinema hall at 6 pm on April 3 with the participation of Chinese Ambassador Ye Dado, Minister of Cultural Affairs Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and NFC Chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa and the festival will kick off with the screening of the film 'Call for Love'.

The festival at BMICH includes 'When Nuoma was Seventeen' at 3.00 pm April 4, 'A Railway in the Clouds' at 6 pm, on April 5 'Prince of the Himalayas at 3 pm and 'Honeymoon' at 6 pm. In Kandy 'Call for Love' will be screened at 10.30 pm, 'When Nuoma was Seventeen' at 2.30 pm and 'Gun of Mercy' at 6 pm.

'Call for Love' is a romantic comedy film directed by Chinese director Zhang Jianya. After being married for 7 years, Xu Lang, a white collar office manager, starts to get tired of the same routine in his marriage. After asking his wife for divorce, he was given a magical cell phone by an angel. The cell phone allowed him to have romantic encounters with different women. After various dates and courtships with 12 beautiful women, he still could not meet the right one. He attempted to mend things over with his wife, only to find that his ex-wife had met another man and found happiness.

The movie premiered in China on Feb 2007 and it stars comedian actor Xu Zheng. Directed by famous Chinese director Feng Xiaoning, 'A Railway in The Clouds' a movie about construction of the first railway from inland China to Tibet, will make its debut this month.

The moving cinematic creation depicts many people who had contributed to the construction. Some even lost their lives. They worked at such high altitude where there was enough oxygen. Many fell down and could not continue their work. Besides, they suffered from the extreme cold, severe gales, and momentary earthquakes.

The film depicts the immense grassland, the jade-like lakes, and the lovely Tibetan antelopes. 'Prince Of The Himalayas' is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. Set in ancient Tibet under the shadow of the Himalayas, the film is a visually ravishing historical epic with stunning scenery, richly saturated colour, and lush costuming. Setting Shakespeare's Prince of Denmark in a completely new context is richly suggestive of the play's enduring relevance for the modern world.

Prince Lhamoklodan learns of his father's mysterious death and returns home to find his uncle has taken the throne--and the widowed queen. The dead emperor's son wants revenge, but how can he exact it without devastating his mother? In the struggle to face his destiny and fight his demons, a new king is born.

Made in Tibetan with English subtitles the film was made in 2007. 'Gun of Mercy' directed by Xiao Fen is a story of a grizzled cop escorting five prisoners through landscapes ravaged by floods.

Gang busters opening, as disastrous floods force the evacuation of a city jail, is continued as the van carrying Officer Ma and his charges are swept into a river by a breaking dam. Ma manages to get them out, and thereon everyone is at each other's throats as they trudge through a giant forest. Ma has only five bullets in his gun, and the story is paragraphed into segs as he uses each projectile. Jiang Wu, as a grinning weirdo, gets the showiest role, and David Wu, as a convicted businessman, the coolest, but it's Liu who gives the pic some passing stature.

'When Ruoma Was Seventeen' was directed by Zhang Jiarui and it stars Shu Linyuan and Li Min.