China's first digital film set during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic is being shot in the Central Hospital of Changsha city, capital of central-southern Hunan Province.

A spokesman for the Xiangjun Cultural Communications Co. Ltd., one of the country's film producers, said Monday that the film tells off the fictional story of Liu Weiguo, a tutor for doctorate students in medical sciences, who is assigned to take charge of the respiratory and internal medicine department at a local hospital after completing his advanced studies in the United States, and his old lover Ye Ling in battling SARS disease together at a southern Chinese hospital.

The spokesman said the film, titled "Diexue Dujuan" (Bloodshed Cuckoo), would last for 90 minutes and cost 800,000 yuan (US$96,400).

The film, which began shooting on June 16, is expected to be finished in one month's time. Upon completion, it will be shown in 34 digital cinemas across China and will later be remade into a television play, said the spokesman.

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