Film collaborations intended as new China-Central Asia model

Wandering Accordions, a film co-produced by China and Kyrgyzstan, drew attention at the recently concluded 13th Silk Road International Film Festival held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, in late September.

The film, co-produced by China's Shinework Pictures and Kyrgyzstan's Alcha Group LLC, held a signing ceremony during the festival, signaling Chinese filmmakers' efforts to expand collaborations with Central Asia.

Centered on the accordion as an emotional motif that runs through the entire narrative, the film weaves a decades-long story of fate across Eurasia. Told through the reflections of an elderly Belarusian, it re-creates turbulent wartime years. It depicts tender moments when people of different ethnic backgrounds stand by and support one another, highlighting humanity's brilliance amid dramatic twists of destiny.

Jonathan Shen, the film's initiator and producer, said: "I have followed Kyrgyzstan with deep affection for more than half a century."

Back in the 1980s, while working with the Foreign Liaison Department of the Chinese Writers' Association, Shen met Chinghiz Aitmatov (1928-2008), Kyrgyzstan's national literary giant and one of Central Asia's most internationally influential writers of the 20th century.

The works of Aitmatov, who passed away at 79, have been translated into more than 170 languages, published in 120 countries worldwide, with total circulation exceeding 60 million copies. Deeply influenced by Aitmatov, Shen has long aspired to bring the spiritual world of Central Asia's nomadic peoples to Chinese audiences and the global community.

In addition, Artykpai Suyundukov, an award-winning director known for the 2021 film Shambala, adapted from Aitmatov's classic The White Steamship, is the father of Meder Suyundukov, founder of Alcha Group and the Kyrgyz co-producer of Wandering Accordions. Artykpai Suyundukov also served as script consultant for the film, adding a personal dimension to Shen's commitment to the project.

Wandering Accordions' shooting locations include the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The film will be released in multiple languages worldwide and is intended to serve as a new model for film cooperation between China and Central Asian countries, according to the producers.