Right before marking the Day of victory over the fascism, in the presence of Ambassador M. Bacevic, Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina A. Rill, Film Center Sarajevo, Huahua Media and Dandelion Productions Inc. have formally signed the agreement to remake the classic war film The Bridge and the Memorandum of Cooperation with regards to the film Walter Defends Sarajevo.
As anti-fascist films that were known throughout China in the 1960s and 1970s, The Bridge and the Walter were imprinted into the Chinese collective memory. The richness of characters whose epic dimension depicts the romanticism of the revolution, music and film dialogues kept the eternal artistic charm remaining as the common place of two different cultures.
Ambassador M. Bacevic said that the two classics, The Bridge and Walter represent not only the cultural good of all peoples of the republic of former Yugoslavia but also the evidence of the Serbian-Chinese friendship. The remake should further cultural exchange bilaterally as well as within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative by strengthening friendship between the two peoples.
Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina A. Rill said the films have a reputation of classics and that music from the movies is recognized by the many. This remake will certainly bring a new rise of the cultural influence of China in B&H, and in view of the expansion of the Belt and Road initiative, in other countries as well, so the young generation can perceive and understand the strength of two classic films whose popularity was spread beyond the national borders.
Chairman of the Huahua Media Board, Wang Kefei, said this cooperation embodies the Chinese mission of strengthening culture ties and exchange within Belt and Road that will additionally deepen friendship between China and Serbia.
Representative of Serbian producers and president of Dandelion Productions Inc., P. Antonijevic commented that The Bridge and Walter are anthological films of Serbian cinematography and that their contents and characters have surpassed cultural and language barriers, becoming the most popular foreign films in China. The remake project unite the efforts of Chinese, Serbian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian film authors who find that the new version of movies will help the global audience to reconnect with the film stories.
Director General of Film Center Sarajevo J. Durakovic said that the movies are the most well-known cultural goods in the film archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and still enjoy the highest television ratings. He expressed his hope that the remake will bring the national culture of B&H and the Serbian people closer to the rest of the world audience.
According to the collected information, the movie The Bridge entered the preliminary phase of preparation. Its film making is expected to start at the beginning of 2020.