Marking the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a new documentary series titled “The Call of the Silk Road” has been launched, consisting of 15 episodes. This large-scale documentary, released on the Chinese video platform Bilibili, is a vivid portrayal of the BRI’s global impact, featuring 14 country-specific episodes and a comprehensive 60-minute summary episode titled “Sharing the Future.”
“The Call of the Silk Road” delves into the theme of “extreme emotions,” capturing the transformative experiences of people from 14 diverse countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. The featured countries include Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Greece, Cambodia, Tanzania, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Brazil, the UAE, Egypt, Pakistan, Senegal, Hungary, and Iran. The series presents these narratives with a humanistic touch, emphasizing the real-life impacts of the BRI on individuals and communities.
Broadcast in multiple languages, including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, and Spanish, the documentary has reached a potential overseas audience of over 400 million viewers. It narrates the stories of the BRI with a focus on development, aggregating country-specific examples under a “people-centered” philosophy. This approach highlights ordinary individuals’ lives and aligns with the concept of a “community with a shared future for mankind.”
The BRI, over the past decade, has evolved into a globally recognized public good and a platform for international cooperation. The documentary series captures this essence, emphasizing collaboration and cooperation among nations and peoples. Each episode weaves the narrative within the “challenge-solution” framework, addressing developmental issues like the digital divide, ecological conservation, and responses to criticisms like the “debt trap.”
A constructive approach to storytelling is evident throughout the series. Examples include the depiction of Indonesia’s digital Silk Road and the construction of Egypt’s new capital’s central business district. These stories incorporate Chinese solutions and wisdom, embodying the spirit of inclusiveness and win-win cooperation.
The series unfolds on a country-by-country basis, reflecting the BRI’s involvement with diverse economic, social, cultural, and religious backgrounds. By adopting a strategy of localized and differentiated storytelling, the series respectfully showcases each country’s cultural beliefs, addresses their concerns, and focuses on shared values. This approach fosters precise communication and empathy, emphasizing common ground in the BRI narrative.
Central to the series are stories of ordinary individuals, such as a female truck driver raising her child, a unicorn entrepreneur learning from Chinese experiences, a port worker nurturing world champions, and generations of farmers cultivating grapes. These stories, drawn from local contexts, are seamlessly integrated into the era’s trend of jointly building the Belt and Road, resonating with the audience.
The documentary uses the metaphor of a “call” to convey the idea that the joint construction of the BRI represents harmonious collaboration and a shared destiny. The final episode portrays the common aspirations of people in the countries involved, conveying a belief in a shared future.
Additionally, the series produced five short videos under the theme “Together.” These videos, featuring stories of individuals from different countries, were broadcast on international media outlets, including CNN. The diverse formats of the series, from micro to long videos and even a “shooting and broadcasting” model, align with current media dissemination trends.
Ultimately, “The Call of the Silk Road” narrates the BRI’s journey from inception to implementation as a collaborative path towards shared development and mutual prosperity. The series showcases authentic, diverse, country-specific documentaries that embrace both differences and commonalities, respecting diversity while highlighting distinctive features. It seeks a shared understanding through the development and progress fostered by the BRI, fundamentally rooted in the people.
The dreams, hopes, struggles, and achievements of individuals along the Silk Road come alive in this documentary series. Each personal story, a note in the grand symphony of the Belt and Road, resonates with the overarching theme of a shared future, creating a harmonious melody that echoes across the Silk Road.
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