World Expo Documentary

By WANG FEIZHOU

DOCUMENTARIES

World Expo Documentary

By WANG FEIZHOU

A five-part documentaryExpo’s Meaning, Shanghai’s Missionwill air on China Central Television (CCTV)’s news channel during prime time on August 10-14, representing a major step for the channel toward international co-production.

With a commitment to enlisting the best overseas talent and resources, CCTV news channel invited Robert Lawrence Kuhn, author of a biography of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, to host the documentary on the World Expo in Shanghai. Kuhn, a well-known non- fi ction writer, has also established himself as a television presenter and China expert,through such projects asCloser to TruthandIn Search of China.

Expo’s Meaning, Shanghai’s Missionis the first cooperation between CCTV and the Kuhn Foundation. “By working with overseas television producers, we can learn about international approaches to TV production,” said Fan Yun, Director of CCTV’s Department of Foreign Language Services.

The documentary was fi lmed in April and May this year by American director Peter Getzels, working with a CCTV crew.Kuhn, known for his diverse experience in studying and commenting on current affairs in China as well as for exploring and unraveling the complexities of various issues, toured the Expo site, interviewing organizers and key fi gures.

In the documentary, Kuhn says the Expo intertwines two main topics: global demand for livable cities together with enabling green technologies, and China’s historic rise. “I am not making claims on behalf of anybody. I am merely stating the obvious,” he said.

Although the documentary was fi lmed mostly inside Expo sites, it touches on various areas such as China’s value in the world’s eyes, Shanghai’s history, the future of man, and true stories from and about China.

The documentary also includes an exclusive interview with Yu Zhengsheng,Secretary of the Shanghai Committee of the Communist Party of China. “Shanghai is the largest city in China. The World Expo in Shanghai will help us reach a consensus on how Shanghai should develop in the future,” he said.