Collective memories in the nation's history

Iconic auteur Chen Kaige clearly remembers the events of Oct 16, 1964, when he was walking home after school in downtown Beijing.

Then a sudden flood of pedestrians carried him along to Wangfujing Street, around four kilometers from his school.

When then 12-year-old Chen looked up, he saw copies of People's Daily being thrown into the air, with the front page headline "China successfully explodes its first atomic bomb".

Chen, now 66, reveals this at a recent Beijing event to announce a new film titled Wo He Wo De Zuguo (I and My Motherland).

Besides Chen, the first Chinese director to win the Cannes Film Festival's top honor, the Palme d'Or, for Farewell My Concubine in 1993, the upcoming film also features six other directors - Guan Hu (Mr Six); Xue Xiaolu (Finding Mr Right); Xu Zheng (Lost in Thailand); Ning Hao (Crazy Alien); Wen Muye (Dying to Survive); and Zhang Yibai (I Belonged to You).

The film, comprising seven short stories, respectively, each made by one of the featured directors, is being produced by Huaxia Film Distribution Co Ltd to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Huang Jianxin, also an established filmmaker who is the chief producer, says: "I feel thrilled to work with these excellent filmmakers. It's a rare moment."

Huang says all the directors are passionate about the project, and they plan to discuss the scripts, film sets and casts in the coming weeks.