Documentary initiative launched at Shanghai TV Festival

A number of new international collaborations were featured at Tuesday's Documentary Production and Collaboration Forum, which took place as part of the 30th Shanghai TV Festival.

This is Shanghai global short video collection initiative was launched during the forum, inviting content creators worldwide to capture the essence of one of China's most prominent cities.

In a keynote speech, Zhu Yannan, Communist Party secretary and director of the Development Research Center of the National Radio and Television Administration, emphasized Shanghai's crucial role as a documentary production base and called for collaborative efforts to establish the city as a leader in high-quality, innovative documentary development.

Documentaries are an audiovisual art form dedicated to truth, carrying unique humanitarian characteristics and aesthetic values that cannot be replaced by other art forms, said Fang Shizhong, head of the Shanghai Media Group.

"We remain committed to pursuing excellence in documentary production, fostering global resonance, advancing ultra HD technology and expanding brand value," he added, noting SMG's recent achievements in documentary production and international cooperation projects, including collaborations with ASEAN countries and various cross-cultural dialogue series.

As part of the forum, SMG's Docu-China Co signed cooperation agreements with BBC Studios and Singapore's MediaCorp. The partnership with the British Broadcasting Corporation will entail a Chinese contribution to the new Hidden Planet nature series, while a BBC documentary will air on Dragon TV. In addition, the SMG documentary, China's Culture Journey, will be broadcast on Singapore's mainstream channels.

The forum also featured a roundtable discussion on Eastern narrative and global resonance, where industry experts and academics explored cross-cultural documentary creation, technological innovation and distribution strategies.

During the event, guests were treated to a preview of the upcoming Great Jiangnan documentary, which will air on Dragon TV's documentary channel later this year.