Documentaries for Magnolia Awards | A Global Culture Feast for a World without Borders

As an important media of international cultural exchanges, humanity-inspired documentaries are widely favored by audiences around the world for their vivid lens language, rich cultural connotation and unique aesthetic value. Among the entries for Magnolia Awards of this year's Shanghai TV Festival (STVF), documentaries from all over the world have brought into the limelight the splendid historical civilization of human beings, presenting once again an array of innovative masterpieces: CHINA Second 2 traces back from the Tang Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty the cultural origins and mutations; THE SECRET OF DANTE sheds light on the significance of DIVINA COMMEDIA today; THE LOUVRE: ANOTHER STORY reveals the rich past of the world's largest museum; THE COUNTY OF THANGKA PAINTERS explores the innovative inheritance of intangible cultural heritage; CHRISTO AND JEANNE-CLAUDE: WITH LOVE AND TENDERNESS THROUGH ART revisits the legendary life of the artistic couple; CAO XUEQIN AND THE STORY OF THE STONE shows the arduous creation process behind this literary masterpiece... These works, either tracing the history or interpreting the classics, unfold a global cultural feast for the world without borders and the prosperity of human civilization before the audience through bounded in a nutshell.

CHINA Season 2 (China)

CHINA Season 2, taking further the narrative line of the previous season, reproduces key historical scenes from the prosperous Tang Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty to uncover figures and events that have far-reaching influence on China in later generations, and trace the evolution of thoughts over more than a thousand years. The work adopts the form of "history told through and by people", and brings historical figures “back to life” to mirror the spirit of the times through poetic filming style and story-based narratives. This season, the minimalist stage sets are replaced by ultra-wide film formats, creating a fresh new "scroll-like" aesthetic experience. In terms of historical materials, the creative team has introduced the iconic events in the exchange of Eastern and Western civilizations, offering a vivid picture of the evolution of Chinese civilization to the audience.

THE SECRET OF DANTE (Italy)

Starting from the dimensions of contemporary narrative and historical criticism, this work attempts to discover the true inner world and spiritual path of Dante Alighieri, the pioneer of the Renaissance in Europe. For over 700 years after Dante's death, the research on his life and works, has never stopped. In particular, DIVINA COMMEDIA, which was hailed as an encyclopedia of European humanities in the Middle Ages, has long been interpreted differently by academics. The documentary THE SECRET OF DANTE, filmed closely on the theme of "love and redemption" in Dante's works, tries to capture the light of Dante's thought and spirit in the real world, and re-interprets the realistic meaning of DIVINA COMMEDIA in the era today.

THE LOUVRE: ANOTHER STORY (France)

The Louvre, the oldest museum in the world, has a total collection of more than 400,000 pieces, but very few are lucky enough to get a glimpse of the entire collection. The documentary, with the legendary experience of over ten iconic collections such as Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, and Nike of Samothrace as clues, gives a full landscape of the time and tide witnessed by the Louvre for more than 800 years, revealing the bond between this art palace and the rise and fall of European civilization. The whole work recreates the historical events in a figurative and perceptible way through the use of video historical materials, expert narration, scene reproduction and other expression methods, to open the door to the Louvre for the audience across time and space.

THE COUNTY OF THANGKA PAINTERS (China/Japan)

THE COUNTY OF THANGKA PAINTERS tells the story of young herdsmen in Rangtang County, Sichuan, who learn and inherit the thangka painting skills to promote national culture and poverty alleviation. For five years, the creative team has followed and photographed young Tibetans represented by Yangpei, Seqinglamu and Danshang, and witnessed the continuity of the mentoring relationship between three generations through their living and studying experience in the Rangbala Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance and Studying Institute, unveiling the new way to achieve local poverty alleviation and prosperity. The work is directed by Inoue Takashi, director of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, and jointly filmed and produced by the Chinese team and Japanese team. Since it was broadcasted in Japan in 2021, the exquisite thangka art and the aspiring stories of Tibetan young people have touched many Japanese audiences.

CHRISTO AND JEANNE-CLAUDE: WITH LOVE AND TENDERNESS THROUGH ART (Germany/France/US)

Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude are world-renowned land artist duo today. Since the 1960s, they have wrapped canyons, coasts, buildings, bridges and islands with fiber materials that stretch for dozens of kilometers, letting the natural world and public buildings take a magnificent look that is both familiar and unknown. The documentary, developed around the creation process of L’Arc de Triomphe Wrapped, reviews the legendary life of the artistic couple for nearly 60 years, especially the intense love between the two, who were born on the same day in the same year and the same month for decades, shedding light vividly on the theme that “All great art is from love and tenderness”.

CAO XUEQIN AND THE STORY OF THE STONE (China)

Telling the fates of Daiyu, Fengjie, Baoyu and the other three characters in THE STORY OF THE STONE, this documentary tries to give a three-dimensional introduction to the book and its author Cao Xueqin for the audience, and an in-depth analysis of the value and connotations in the book from the aspects of literature, aesthetics, history, etc., in light of the experiences of Cao Xueqin and his family. By visiting more than 20 experts and scholars at home and abroad, including Wang Meng, Hu Deping, Zhang Qingshan, Bai Xianyong, Min Fude, and Ye Lang, the creative team brings into focus the latest research results of the studies of THE STORY OF THE STONE in the past ten years, which can be seen as an innovative interpretation of the book.

These works, across regions, time and space, look at the evolution of world civilization and history, runs through ancient and modern times and span Chinese and foreign land, laying out a feast of thought and culture before the audience with rich selected materials, moving stories and innovative forms. In the future, the Magnolia Awards will further promote the exchange and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign TV art to attract more audiences to the TV screen to appreciate the charm of multiple cultures.

Which works will win the favor of this year's Magnolia Awards? Keep tuned to find the answer!