Feast of films and games

China Animation Game City will open its gate to visitors from Sept 28 to Oct 7, to offer a carnival of games, shows and forums.

The "city", built by China Animation Comic Game Group and Shougang Group, is an industrial and business park located in Shijingshan district, Beijing. It will feature the production, research, trade and enjoyment of animated works.

During the gala, artists from China, France, Spain and Britain will perform in a concert of the scores of well-known animated films.

CCTV-9 seeks docus on social issues

CCTV-9, the documentary channel, has invited bids from television production companies to make non-fictional programs.

Themed "Vibrant China", the bids call for documentaries focusing on social issues.

Liu Wen, director of CCTV-9, called the bids exercise "an exploration of new perspectives and new methods of making documentaries".

Fest brings kids from around the world

The 6th National Children's Dance Festival was held recently in Huinan, East China's Anhui province, and in Beijing.

Hundreds of kids under 15, from some 20 countries across the world, participated in the festival to share their love of dance and to make friends. Since March, children from 34 provinces have submitted more than 450 shows and of these around 100 were shown during the festival.

China Dancers' Association held the first such festival in 1998.

Rare peek into lives of musicians

People's Music Publishing House has released a 15-part documentary Century Symphony: Pioneers of Chinese Symphony to introduce 15 established symphony musicians.

A project of China Symphony Development Foundation, it features such well-known conductors as Li Delun (1917-2001), former director of China National Symphony Orchestra who collaborated with the late American violinist Isaac Stern (1920-2001) in 1979. It was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary From Mao to Mozart.

Directed by Liu Peng, each episode not only introduces the artist's music but also tells the stories behind the scores through interviews with the musician or their colleagues and relatives. The film took three years to complete and is considered to have high artistic, academic and historical value.

Shows for children's theater festival

China Children's Art Theater is hosting the first Chinese Children Theater Festival in Beijing, which will run till Aug 28.

It will showcase 39 plays, including musicals, shadow plays, and puppet shows, presented by 24 troupes from eight countries and regions. Children of migrant workers, soldiers and bus drivers can watch the performances for free. Some of the shows will also travel to other provinces and cities including Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin.

The festival will include a seminar on children's theater in China and a talk by Ivica Simic, secretary general of the International Association of Theater for Children and Young People on the growth of children's theater.

China Daily