School heads excited by animated film featuring poems
An animated film featuring over 40 Tang poems could boost interest in Chinese culture among students, school heads said, after attending a film screening event co-organised by RTHK and the Hong Kong Rosalind Foundation on Thursday.  The Chinese-made 3D movie, "Chang An" – set in the prosperous Tang Dynasty and featuring poetic elements – was played to more than a hundred educators at the viewing event. After watching the movie, several school principals told RTHK that they enjoyed the film and will consider showing it to their students.  "The animation is really fantastic.… It can be a good start for students to learn more about Chinese culture in an interactive way instead of just reading textbooks and doing worksheets." Valtorta College's vice principal Mok Wong-wai said.  “Some of the poems I found it hard to understand… but because they put the poems into a story, so it helps me understand a lot," Kowloon Wah Yan College's principal Cecilia Chow added.  Zareenah Ho from the Islamic Kasim Tuet Memorial College said the movie can also benefit ethnic minority students.  "Even in my school most of my students are ethnic minorities, I would really like them to learn about Chinese history through watching this movie… they can understand more,” she said.  The film's animation supervisor, Hichan Chan, said his team tried to portray how the Tang poets might be feeling when they wrote the poems.  "While we cannot personally experience what the poets were thinking, but during the production, we can sense their carefree nature... we really wanted to express that emotion," he said.  RTHK assistant director Vincent Lee said the broadcaster is committed to promoting Chinese culture and believes "Chang An" can do the job well.  “The movie has enjoyed widespread success in the mainland recently, sparking a renewed interest in Tang poetry. We have chosen to promote this movie through schools, so the next generation can learn about Tang poetry and Chinese culture,” he said.