Zhang Yuan, a leading figure among Sixth Generation Chinese film directors, is making a new feature film titled It Looks Beautiful (Kanshangqu Henmei) at the Bayi Film Studio in southern Beijing.

Adapted from renowned Beijing writer Wang Shuo's autobiographical novel of the same title, the film tells the story of a group of 300 three-to-six-year-old children in a State-owned kindergarten in 1960s Beijing.

The film stars Dong Bowen, as Fang Qiangqiang, or, as the director chooses to refer to him, "the little Wang Shuo," and the veteran film director's daughter, Ning Yuanyuan, as Chen Nanyan, Fang's "little sweetheart."

The young players in the film were chosen from among at least 10,000 children in kindergartens across the Chinese capital, according to Zhang Yuan.

"I decided to make a film version of Wang's novel about six years ago when I first read the heart-warming, satirical and thought-provoking story about young children," Zhang said. "Wang is a great author, with deep insight into the inner feelings and seemingly carefree life of children and a sense of humour with a strong Beijing flavour. I think the story could have happened in any Chinese kindergarten of that period of time."

The film vividly revives many interesting moments, scenes, "secrets" and personal experiences of the young children in and outside the kindergarten, which many urban Chinese adults, already in their 40s, will still recall as a part of their own lives at that time, Zhang said.

A Century Hero Film Investment Co Ltd production, the film boasts a strong production team.

The script is co-authored by Zhang Yuan and his wife Ning Dai, also an established script writer; it is co-produced by Zhang Yuan and Marco Mueller, an acclaimed film artist, critic and chairman of the Venice International Film Festival.

The director of photography is Yang Gao who has worked for such famous film directors as Stanley Kwan Vietnamese Girl, (Yuenan Guniang).

The art designer is Huo Tingxiao, who has also worked for Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou.

The sound recording director is Wu Lala, whose credits include Zhang Yimou's Happy Time (Xingfu Shiguang) and Zhang Yuan's Beijing Bastards (Beijing Zazhong).

The lighting engineer is Huang Zhiming, who has worked for veteran Hong Kong film directors Wong Kar-wai, An Hui and Hark Tsui, among others, from as far back as the early 1980s.

"My film may touch the most sensitive part of the hearts of today's audiences, children and adults alike, although I know they may see the story in different ways. Personally, I want to make it into a kind of modern allegory. Such an approach, to my understanding, is in line with Wang Shuo's original idea," Zhang claimed.

Wang, 46, is noted for his adept use of the Beijing dialect and his true-to-life satiric portrayal of ordinary Chinese who, troubled by distress and pressure, are trying to live their lives according to their own wishes.

Over the past two decades, many of Wang's novels, all bestsellers, have been successfully adapted into films.

(China Daily July 21, 2004)