Movie poster for "Move It Again". (This photo/provided by interviewee) Yesterday, at the Golden Rooster Film Venture Capital Conference and Promotion Ceremony, "Move Another Drama" as a Xiamen-themed project won the Golden Rooster Venture Capital Xiamen Made Outstanding Project a

Movie poster of "Another Story". (Provided by this group of pictures/interviewees)

Yesterday, at the Golden Rooster Film Venture Capital Conference and Promotion Ceremony, "Move Another Drama" as a Xiamen-themed project won the Golden Rooster Venture Capital Xiamen Manufacturing Winning Project at the ultimate road show. It is reported that "Another Play" stood out from more than 1,000 projects this year and became the first Xiamen-themed project to be shortlisted for the final road show of the Golden Rooster Film Venture Capital Conference and win the award since the Golden Rooster Awards settled in Xiamen in 2019. The reporter noticed that the title of "Another Play" itself has the characteristics of southern Fujian. "Moving the play" means "acting" in the Hokkien dialect; and to the audience who don't understand the Hokkien dialect, it sounds like the play has been moved to the stage.

It is worth mentioning that the puppet show, which is familiar to Fujianese people, runs throughout the entire movie, and is an important clue that helps the mother and son to resolve their past feud and the protagonist to find the direction of life.

During the mid-term project roadshow, a judge once asked Yan Zhijian, the screenwriter and director of "Another Play", why he chose "Puppet Opera" as a creative element. Yan Zhijian explained that the Chinese way of expressing emotions is implicit. The actors of the puppet show are hidden behind the stage, which gives the mother and son the space to express their unspeakable emotions to each other through the puppet show. On the other hand, as a native of Xiamen, Yan Zhijian also hopes to create a film with southern Fujian characteristics to revitalize puppetry. In fact, puppetry has been well inherited and promoted in Taiwan, and has been widely disseminated through many film and television works, such as "The Dream of Life" directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The puppet show with local characteristics has gradually attracted the attention and love of young people. Chu Yaoxian, the producer of "Another Play", said during the road show that at the annual Puppet Art Carnival in Shenzhen, the puppet show was hard to get a ticket for; on Sina Weibo, the discussion about puppet show exceeded 1.5 billion This time, Station B, where young people gather, has in-depth cooperation with the Pili Puppet Show team to create Puppet Show content that young people love to watch, and has even exported to international markets such as Japan.

Using local opera to express emotions was praised

At the ultimate road show, the chief judge, director and screenwriter Chen Yu, and the filmmaker Tang Ke and other judges and guests all praised the elements of puppetry, the intertextual expression of local traditional opera and family stories, and also impressed the chief judge and actors. Qin Hailu resonates strongly.

Qin Hailu said frankly at the scene that she was educated in Peking Opera and grew up in a boarding school. Her parents expressed their love for her by bringing her a roast chicken as a snack every weekend. Whether it was the elements of traditional opera, the simple family affection and restrained expression, she was attracted to the script. "It's rare for young people to think of using traditional culture to express their emotions."

Outside the venue, Yan Zhijian also received encouragement from many industry seniors and industry guests. Two days after the road show, Yan Zhijian and Chu Yaoxian received many olive branches one after another, including those who liked the work and even expressed their intention to cooperate.

(Xiamen Daily reporters Zhuang Xiaojing and Lu Xiaofeng)