【推荐1】China’s top animator Tian Xiaopeng and his animation studio announced that they will be producing the much-anticipated live action film, The Three-Body Problem, based on the award-winning sci-fi novel by Chinese writer Liu Cixin.

Tian created China’s 3-D animation milestone Monkey King: Hero Is Back in 2015. It grossed (获利) 956 million yuan in China, becoming the highest-grossing Chinese animation in the country’s film history at that time. It had held the record until 2019 when it got broken by Coloroom Pictures Ne Zha that grossed more than five billion yuan.

Book fans of The Three-Body Problem had mixed reactions after hearing about Tian’s involvement. Some expressed doubt about a studio that specializes in animation making a live-action movie. Others also argued that the universe described in the novel is too big and complicated for any filmmakers to portray on big screens. But some seemed optimistic about the new adaption, noting the impressive track record of Tian’s previous works.

The book series talks about how human beings respond to alien invasion. It was published in China between 2006 and 2010, and sold more than one million copies. The first book in the series was awarded the Chinese Science Fiction Galaxy Award in 2006. In 2014, an English translation of the first book by Chinese-American author Ken Liu, titled The Three-Body Problem, was published. A year later, Liu Cixin became the first Asian author to win the Hugo Award, the highest honor in science fiction and fantasy writing.

The book series has developed various art and entertainment forms, including stage dramas and radio shows. During Spring Festival in 2019, Guo Fan’s The Wandering Earth, a film also based on a novel by Liu Cixin, had made over 4.6 billion yuan at the box office domestically. It ignited huge public interest in the film project of The Three-Body Problem.

【推荐2】Anne of Green Gables (1985)

Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel Anne of Green Gables, previously filmed in 1934, was afforded a TV-movie treatment in 1985. Anne Shirley is an orphan girl sent to live with a foster family on Canada’s Prince Edward Island. Though she has great difficulty controlling her temper and vivid imagination, Anne eventually wins over her new guardians, bossy Marilla Cuthbert and Mailla’s shy brother Mathew. Anne’s journey is a happy one, but starts out difficult like those of many children adopted at an older age.

Martian Child (2007)

Martian Child tells the story of a widower, David, and his continuation of the adoption process he had started before his wife’s death. His new son, Dennis, believes that he is a Martian. David must contend with this belief and gain access into Dennis’s world. Both characters are born outsiders and they recognize their common sense of loss. Martian Child is a wonderful story for any adopted child, especially those who have created their own origin story to cope with the absence of their birth family.

Despicable Me (2010)

Despicable Me is championed for showing kids how much their presence impacts the lives of their adoptive parents. Gru is a super-bad guy until he meets orphans Margo, Edith and Agnes. They overturned his life and his evil plans as they work to warm his heart and home. Despicable Me is a funny kid movie on the surface, but truly has a lot to say about the love of a child and the effect of that love on their new parents and home.

Annie (2014)

In this remake of one of the most-beloved adoption stories, Annie’s positive attitude shines in the midst of incompetent social workers and greedy foster parents. The songs are cheerful and catchy and the film is happy. While this film could be very challenging for children who have experienced destructive placements, it is generally family-friendly. It also gets points for allowing Annie to exemplify several of the strengths of foster kids: hopeful, brave, tough and smart.

【推荐3】One Day, an anthology film (多段式电影) about easily-hurt children chasing their dreams, held a press conference to announce its release data on Wednesday afternoon in Beijing.

Set for September 10th, One day consists of nine short stories each focusing on one special group of children, such as the blind, those with intellectual disabilities, children who have been kidnapped and those whose parents work far away.

Produced by Huayi Brothers, a leading film production company, record label and talent agency in China, the film is one of the few non-commercial films in China heading to big screens nationwide this year.

According to Sun Amei, the main initiator (发起人) behind the film and person in Charge of the Huayi Brothers Foundation, One Day took 350 staff working over 900 days to finish while the film’s 12 stars including Zhou Xun, Wang Qianyuan, Xu Fan and Siqin Caowa have forgone any payment for their appearance in the film.

Advance ticket sales have already begun, with tickets priced as low as 5 yuan (about $0.8). Wang Zhonglei, CEO of Huayi Brothers, explained that ticket prices only cover the price of screening the film in theaters and that neither Huayi nor cinemas will turn in a profit from the film.

“There are many platforms a film can be released on, but only the big screen has the biggest charm,” Wang said at the press conference. He added that the film was not to call for economic support, as many of these vulnerable children can make a living by themselves when they grow up. “But they lack attention and understanding from society.” Wang stressed.

Sun said that One Day will not be their last film, as the foundation is planning to continue making films about these often ignored children.