Do you know the story behind the Volunteer March?
Did you know that its lyricist goes to prison, its composer goes to the country, and its birth is difficult?
Did you know that it was performed by black singers and was a great success in Europe and the United States?
Did you know that it was released overseas and inspired countless anti-fascist fighters?
Did you know that it fascinated two foreigners and produced a very, very interesting national anthem stop-motion animated short film?
In fact, the history of the national anthem is as exciting as its melody, from the author's arrest and imprisonment, the film's box office failure, to the song's singing for a while, circulating overseas popularity...
These historical knowledge, which are "super-outline" for ordinary Chinese, were excavated by a foreign teacher and made into exquisite and interesting short films by a foreign youth in the form of stop-motion animation.
It's really admirable, admired!
Today, let's follow the story of Spanish teacher odet abadia and Turkmen girl Kristina grigoryan, and walk into this hidden and great history together!
01
Origins: It contains everything that fascinates me
The story begins with Crooked Nut Odet Abadia, a Spanish producer who has lived in China for almost a decade. Ten years ago, Odet, who did not know Chinese at all and did not understand China, was transferred to China by the company, and at first she did not adapt, until she signed up for an online Chinese history course with the mentality of trying it out, and immediately "really fragrant" and fell in love with Chinese culture uncontrollably. "Chinese history is fantastic! I am especially interested in pre-Qin culture, and women are good (female generals of the Shang Dynasty) have become the biggest idol in my heart! ”
During the epidemic last year, the usually busy odets, like thousands of workers, were forced to stop their work. During this time, she realized that her favorite was to study interesting and meaningful Chinese stories, and she found that many foreigners, whether living overseas or living in China, did not understand Chinese culture and were even full of "pride and prejudice." She decided to start a channel on Sinoledge, an overseas social media channel, to tell the history of China through videos, articles and pictures.
△ On May 15, 2021, seeing the successful landing of China's "Zhu Rong" on Mars, Odet was particularly excited, while announcing good news with Chinese friends, he began to serialize the history of China's space exploration in his own channel, and the protagonist of the first issue was Qian Xuesen, whom she particularly admired.
By chance, odet learned the story of the Chinese national anthem at the Shanghai Film Museum, and his interest was immediately aroused, and he immediately searched for relevant information on the Internet. In the process, she found that there were many unknown histories hidden in the national anthem, such as the hardships and hardships of the Early Chinese Communist Party that had to go underground, the ideal pursuit for which the Communists struggled unremittingly, the tortuous development of the early film industry in Shanghai, and the surging blood of the call for the anti-Japanese resistance of the whole people and the world anti-fascist war, all of which were included in this song of new China.
△ The lyricist of the national anthem Tian Han (left), the composer Nie Er (right). In 1935, Tian Han was arrested and imprisoned, and Nie Er went to Japan to avoid being pursued, and the "March of the Volunteer Army" was born against this background.
"I always thought it was a perfect story." Odet preached, but to her surprise, many of her Chinese friends didn't understand it, which made her determined to create a short film that would make this bumpy and bloody time known to more people. In May 2021, odet happened to be the instructor of the "See China Foreign Youth Film Project" in Shanghai, guiding several foreign young directors to create short documentaries on Chinese culture, and she recommended this topic to the participating foreign directors, and in this way, a documentary about the national anthem began to be prepared.
02
Choice: From knowing nothing to becoming a "historian"
In the beginning, no one chose the theme of the "national anthem" as the subject of filming, and foreign directors felt that the story was too big, worried that it would not be easy to shoot, and it would not be good to shoot. After some deliberation, kristina grigoryan, a girl from Turkmenistan, decided to take up the challenge. Because she feels that knowing the national anthem is to know China, and telling it from the perspective of a foreigner also has a unique meaning. "I want to tell this extraordinary story in a new form so that people around the world can feel its heroism and blood."
With the help of her chinese friend Tian Hongmin, the lively and sweet Kristina Grigoryan is a second-year student in the School of Journalism and Communication of Shanghai University, and with the help of her Chinese friend Tian Hongmin, she immediately began to prepare for the work, and with a feeling of both anxiety and excitement, walked through the National Anthem Museum, Nie Er's Former Residence, Nie Er Music Square, Baidai Xiaolou, Tian Han Square, and read countless materials.
After a lot of field visits and research, Kristina Grigoryan became more and more engaged from a foreigner who knew nothing about that period of history, and she laughed that she became an "expert in Chinese history in the 30s" and was completely moved by this story. "I was very surprised by the origin of the Chinese national anthem, I didn't know it was a movie theme song, and it was born in that context. When I learned the story behind the "Volunteer March" and listened to the national anthem, I had a very excited feeling. ”
In order to avoid the boring feeling of historical details and ancient images, under the advice of mr. Odet, Kristina decided to use stop-motion animation to make the historical data come alive and vividly show the audience the past. During the shoot, Kristina performed detail restorations on more than fifteen hundred photographs.
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In terms of content, Kristina has a unique approach, not only presenting the birth process of "The March of the Volunteer Army", but also telling how the song spread overseas, gained international influence, and inspired the world's anti-fascist struggle.
△ The short film shows an untold story: in 1940, the famous black singer Paul Robeson successfully performed "The March of the Volunteers" in standard Mandarin in the United States, and the following year recorded an album called "cheelai (up): The Song of New China", which was a great success.
△ Song Qingling, Lin Yutang, Liu Liangmo, Paul Robertson and others wrote the preface to this record.
In that turbulent era when the smoke of gunfire was thick and the mountains and rivers were confused, this "March of the Volunteer Army" full of courage, fighting spirit and strength issued a deafening cry and awakened the hope of the entire nation. Time and space rotate, today whenever we hear the melody of the national anthem, we will be encouraged and touched, as if we have some more strength, continue to devote ourselves to the struggle of study, work and construction of the motherland.
The enthusiasm of the two foreigners for the national anthem is admirable, and as Chinese, what reason is there not to love their motherland and not to love their national anthem?
Let's take a look at the true appearance of the short film and see the unknown history of the national anthem!
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