2019-01-18

SIFF PROJECT | 2018 Honored SIFF PROJECT MOERDAOGA Starts Shooting Today

Today, MOERDAOGA, directed by CAO Jinling, starring WANG Chuanjun and QI Xi, started shooting at Ergun, Inner Mongolia, and released its latest posters. As the first film to be shot in the original forest of Moerdaoga, the project was also selected into the SIFF Project in 2018.

Latest Poster of MOERDAOGA

The new director CAO Jinling has a legendary life experience. Once a police officer, she shifted to the film industry and participated in the production of MEET MISS ANXIETY, CRYING OUT IN LOVE and SEVENTY-SEVEN DAYS as a screenwriter. MOERDAOGA will be her debut as a director.

Taking place in Cao\'s hometown, the film tells the story between a lumberjack and the last virgin forest in the 1980s. In the contemporary fable MOERDAOGA, she attempts to return to the focus on human nature more thoroughly, and to discuss about the majesty of nature and human survival by recreating the living conditions in the original forests of Inner Mongolia. The movie was written in 2015 when Cao was studying screenwriting at the University of Southern California. After years of polishing, Cao submitted the increasingly mature script to Shanghai International Film Festival in 2018 for investment and collaboration, which was then successfully selected into SIFF PROJECT.

On the scene of 2018 SIFF Project

The lonely yet brave lumberjack will be performed by actor WANG Chuanjun, who has received wide attention in 2018, while actress QI Xi is going to depict a female hunter for the first time. Since the work also puts the "people living in the mountains" – Orochon Evenk under spotlight, in order to truly present the features and customs of Chinese ethnic minorities, the film has also engaged a number of minority actors including Ligeng Si, Menghe Wuliji, Su Lide, and Zhula Quan.

Following the stunning performance in THE WASTED TIMES and DYING TO SURVIVE, WANG Chuanjun shows up in front of us with a brand new image. Besides his participation in important art films SATURDAY FICTION and ENGLISH, this time, isolated from current living conditions and performing a lonely lumberjack in extremely cold weather, what kind of performance will be present in MOERDAOGA? We cannot wait to see.

The leading actress QI Xi has staged an amazing performance in the play RHINOS IN LOVE, and then starred in MYSTERY and EVER SINCE WE LOVE with sincere and lively acting. In MOERDAOGA, Qi challenged the role of a female hunter for the first time, showing the collision between humanity and nature in the rough and vibrant virgin forest.

Since the story line of MOERDAOGA spans sixty years, it will take the crew two years and three phases to complete the shooting. In Moerdaoo, the lowest temperature may reach -50 °C. Under such extremely cold conditions, people may face great challenges to survival. However, to present a more close-to-life state, director CAO Jinling, together with leading performers WANG Chuanjun, QI Xi, went deep into the forest one month beforehand for script reading and rehearsal. They eat and live with the forestry workers, switching on a hunter’s life without modern network. Although separated from all the entertainment, they are overwhelmed by the beauty of the original forest they have never seen before, and are looking forward to the official filming.

Group photo at the launch conference of MOERDAOGA on December 24

At the launch conference of MOERDAOGA, a super production team was unveiled: Director CAO Jinling; Producer LIAO Ching-sung, the noted editor and producer who just won the Special Contribution Award at the 55th Golden Horse Film Festival; Cinematography Director LEE Ping-Bing, known as “A Poet of Light and Shadow” and the winner of the Silver Bear Award at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival and seven awards of Golden Horse Best Cinematography; Sound Effects Director TU Duun Chih, winner of Technical Grand Prize at the 54th Cannes International Film Festival; Visual Effects Director Sam KHORSHID, the Hollywood special effects master who has been honored Best Visual Effects of Emmy Award and Golden Horse Award for many times. The winners at major film festivals have formed up the strongest team, determined to present an amazing work.

MOERDAOGA, co-presented by Great Media Global Entertainment (Beijing) Co., Ltd., Beijing Enlight Pictures Co., Ltd., Horgos Wuguang Shise Pictures Co., Ltd., Jackie & JJ Productions and Kingdom Pictures (Beijing) co., Ltd., is expected to be released in 2020. Stay tuned.