The "Belt and Road" Film Tour | Shanghai-produced Film HARHUU Stuns Dhaka International Film Festival of Bangladesh

As the Year of the Tiger approaches, the Shanghai-produced film HARHUU, selected and recommended by Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), stunned the "Cinema of the World" section of the 20th Dhaka International Film Festival of Bangladesh, and was screened on the afternoon of January 15, the local time in Dhaka, marking the latest achievement of the "Belt and Road" Film Tour of SIFF this year.

Opening Ceremony of Dhaka International Film Festival 2022

The 20th Dhaka International Film Festival of Bangladesh was held from January 15 to 23, 2021, with the theme of "Better Film, Better Audience and Better Society". A total of 225 films were screened at local cinemas, museums, public libraries and other venues in Dhaka. The Dhaka International Film Festival has been maintaining close contact with SIFF. Since joining the "Belt and Road" Film Festival Alliance in February 2019, it has shown Anchor Baby, Fish Under the Ice and other Chinese films recommended by the "Belt and Road" Film Tour.

In 2019, the representatives of the "Belt and Road" Film Festival Alliance attended the "Belt and Road" Film Night, and the first from the left was Ahmed Muztaba Zamal

In 2019, Ahmed Mozataba Zamir, the founder and director of the Dhaka International Film Festival, came to Shanghai to participate in the 22nd SIFF as a representative of the "Belt and Road" Film Festival Alliance and served as the honorary Jury of the "Belt and Road" Film Week. Ahmed was deeply impressed by the Chinese films and expected to recommend more excellent Chinese films to Bangladeshi audiences. For HARHUU, he noted that the film, exploratory and speculative, is sincere in emotion and is a work with a great humanistic spirit.

Poster of HARHUU

HARHUU is directed by the Inner Mongolian director Boyanhkeshig. It tells the story of an old shepherd who rescued a newborn black pony and took good care of it. The black pony gradually grew into a vigorous horse on the free pasture and became the shepherd's best companion. However, following a sudden change, it was sold to repay the debt. Being homeless, it thus embarked on a rough road of return, also a usual life journey.

"It is about the journey of a horse, but also the journey of life," Boyanhkeshig introduced his work this way. As an animal-themed film, the title of HARHUU comes from the name of the black horse in the film, which literally means "black child" in Mongolian. Boyanhkeshig, who grew up in a Mongolian herdsman's family, has deep feelings for horses, "This title not only means a cute child, but also serves to express emotions. And with the reverence for horses, I named the film HARHUU."

Still of HARHUU

HARHUU, which premiered in 2020, was produced by Shanghai Jiantu Culture Development Co., Ltd. At the 34th Golden Rooster Award in 2021, the film was nominated for the best small-and-medium cost feature film and the best director's debut.

In recent years, the "Belt and Road" Film Tour of SIFF has been dedicated to helping the Chinese films and Chinese filmmakers "go out", communicating the Chinese culture, and telling the warm Chinese stories. In 2020, ANIMA was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Cairo International Film Festival in Egypt; in 2021, WU HAI appeared at two major film festivals in Bulgaria and Nepal... Through the "Belt and Road" Film Tour, a batch of Chinese films and film workers have met the audiences in more countries, showing the world a more diverse, comprehensive and true image of China. During the 24th SIFF in June 2021, Jia Ling and Zhang Xiaofei were invited to serve as the promotion ambassadors of the "Belt and Road" Film Week, and jointly launched the new round of the "Belt and Road" Film Tour. And the appearance of HARHUU at the Dhaka International Film Festival also marked the beginning of the tour.

The scene of the launching ceremony of the new round of the "Belt and Road" Film Tour

The "Belt and Road" Film Festival Alliance was established during the 21st SIFF in 2018 and now has gathered 53 institutional members in 46 countries. In the same year, the "Belt and Road" Film Week was set up, and a series of activities such as screenings, forums, industry dialogues, and market promotions were held. With the platform advantages of the "Belt and Road" Film Festival Alliance, SIFF has launched the "Belt and Road" Film Tour to unremittingly recommend the outstanding Chinese films and filmmakers to the film festivals of countries along the "Belt and Road" route, form the synergetic mechanism of the annual screenings and global screenings, promote the joint discussion, co-construction and sharing of the film workers and film institutions in countries along the route, further deepen the exchange and mutual learning of the film culture, and draw the people in countries along the route closer.