Kazakh actress Aruzhan Jazilbekova reacts after she was awarded the Best Leading Actress at the awards ceremony of the 2019 Golden Screen Awards in Los Angeles, the United States, on Nov. 9, 2019. "The Composer," a moving drama co-produced by China and Kazakhstan, won four titles at 2019 Golden Screen Awards in Los Angeles, the heartland of the global entertainment industry. The film, following the true life story of one of China's greatest composers, Xian Xinghai, was awarded the Best Co-Production Film, Best Leading Actor, Best Leading Actress and Best Music, at the Saturday night's annual black-tie event and awards ceremony. (Xinhua/Li Ying)
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- "The Composer," a moving drama co-produced by China and Kazakhstan, won four titles at 2019 Golden Screen Awards in Los Angeles, the heartland of the global entertainment industry.
The film, following the true life story of one of China's greatest composers, Xian Xinghai, was awarded the Best Co-Production Film, Best Leading Actor, Best Leading Actress and Best Music, at the Saturday night's annual black-tie event and awards ceremony.
The story is about friendship between Xian Xinghai, who was stranded in Kazakhstan's Almaty after the Soviet Union was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1941, and Kazakh composer Bakhitzhan Baykadamov, who provided Xian with a home despite not knowing his true identity.
There Xian put down roots and composed some of his most famous works, including symphonies Liberation of the Nation and Sacred War, and the suites Red All Over the River and Chinese Rhapsody for winds and strings.
The Golden Screen Awards, co-hosted from 2016 by Motion Picture Association (MPA), the China Film Co-Production Corporation (CFCC), the U.S. China Film & TV Industry Expo (UCFTI) and the leading entertainment media Hollywood Reporter, was designed to bring attention and appreciation to co-productions between China and the rest of the world.
Iris Wang, producer of "The Composer" and general manager of Shinework Pictures, told Xinhua that the picture cost crews from China, Kazakhstan, Russia and South Korea five years to complete, and more than 20,000 people joined the works.
"This film and these awards showed how important and how excellent the cooperation between artists from different countries could be," Iris Wang told Xinhua after she took the Best Co-Production Film award on stage, "we're eager to create more cooperation opportunities in future."
Her remarks echoed by U.S. and Chinese entertainment industry leaders and talented creatives, who all shared an evening of mutual appreciation at the ceremony.
"This is a wonderful event that goes to show what genuine opportunities there are for successful co-productions," English-born producer, Ian Jessel, told Xinhua, who is no stranger to working with China and has just successfully financed a slate of 6 pictures with backers from China.
"By bringing even greater attention and talent to the fast-growing industry, co-production filmmakers have proudly enabled Chinese art and culture to influence the creativity and imagination of the entire world," announced Bianca Chen, Founder and CEO of UCFTI.
"This event is a great opportunity for us all to get together and celebrate the amazing films that were released last year - particularly the co-production films. So, we're all thrilled to be celebrating that and the honorees who are receiving their awards," Mike Ellis, president and managing director of the MPA Asia-Pacific region, told Xinhua.
"On the macro level there's politics that sometimes goes on, but the film industry marches on and people support it and I'd like to think we are above the politics," he grinned.
Chun Liu, general manager of the CFCC, said that the Golden Screen Awards provided an important platform for presenting and sharing this year's Chinese and foreign co-productions, as well as encouraging more cooperations, including with the United States.
