Preface

The documentary film Kite·Kite is a tribute to the creators and cast members of The Magic of the Kite,the first Chinese-foreign co-produced film in New China and also the first color children's feature film in New China.

The film The Magic of the Kite, released on June 1, 1959, was themed to find friendship through film dream. The release of this film promoted the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and created a precedent for the film diplomacy of New China.62 years later,the documentary film Kite·Kite, released on June 1, 2021, tells the story of the people-to-people bond between the Chinese and French peoples in a documentary way, demonstrating the friendship between the Chinese and French peoples. The release and broadcast of this film composes a new good story. On March 24, 2019, the day before General Secretary Xi Jinping's visit to France, the promotional video of the documentary film Kite·Kite was released in the cultural event“Souvenir of the Passage of Time:Sino-French Friendship Stories” held in Paris, France. This film also recorded the scenes of French streets when General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Paris, France. At 8:55 pm Beijing time on November 4, 2019, the French national TV station TV5MONDE broadcasted the 66-minute documentary Kite·Kite. That the French TV station chose to broadcast it on this day was to cooperate with French President Macron's attendance at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Since the film Kite·Kite was released,some people comment that the film is plain, authentic and warm, with vivid characters, sense of reality, flavor of life and coherent narrative. Some say that it is a down-to-earth documentary, deep and smart, simple, and meaningful. Some say that it is a kind of innovation to express film with film. Some say that this film is very interesting, enriching knowledge and broadening the horizon. Some say that after watching this film they think French is a very important language and their confidence of learning French is strengthened. Some say that they were moved by this film and tears ran down several times. Some say that they remembered “the string of the kite never breaks”. Some say that the film is unconventional and innovative in documentary expression, and is a masterpiece of telling Chinese stories in art, and is a national photo album that highlights the 60 years of friendship between the Chinese and French peoples from the perspective of the common people.

In my opinion, this film is a dialogue between the minds of two generations of filmmakers, a tribute paid by the contemporary filmmakers to those of that year, and a bridge built by the art form of film to connect the people of different civilizations and countries.

Congratulations with these passages on our Group's director Xu Feng for the completion of this book Kite·Kite and for the documentary film Kite·Kite which was written by him and co-produced by our unit China Central Newsreels and Documentary Film Studio (Group), China Intercontinental Communication Center (CICC) and other units. Look forward to your enjoyment of this film and this book.

Guo Benmin

Deputy General Manager of Central Studio of

News Reels Production (Group)