The filming of Protect the Panda Village, China’s first internet philanthropy movie in the form of a reality show, began in Chengdu’s famous giant panda breeding-base on August 15th. The movie records the life of six “panda village protectors” over seven days and six nights, during which they go into the primeval forest to get to know the living condition of pandas and their companion animals, visit local residents to find out about their lives, and experience the much-envied activity of feeding pandas. The six girls who play the role of protectors, with an average age of 23, were selected out of 156 panda-lovers.
The movie is made by the Eudemonia Bank Research and Development Center, a Chengdu NGO. It is directed by the promising director Song Jin, sponsored by the Tencent Charity Foundation and the Shenzhen Social Commonweal Fund, and supported by China Charity Fair and other organizations. Zhao Songsheng, the founder of Eudemonia Bank and the movie’s planner, invested all his own savings of 350 thousand yuan to fund the movie.
“We hope that Protect the Panda Village can win as much praise as the hit movie on animals Born in China has, but we hope even more strongly to make our audiences realize that living in the vicinity of pandas is not nearly as pleasant as some might imagine. Many youth have to give up their traditional means of livelihood like burning the grass, felling trees and hunting, and seek jobs outside of the countryside, but then social problems including left-behind children and older people come crashing in one after the other”, explained Mr. Zhao when sharing his intention of shooting the movie. He also stated his expectation that the movie will attract more concern for the living conditions of the local villagers, and also boost the income of the villagers by promoting the sustainable development of the local tourist industry and manual products.
