Martial arts film legend Jackie Chan will co-produce a Chinese film partially shot in Syria inspired by events surrounding Beijing’s 2015 naval evacuation of Chinese and foreign citizens from Yemen as the Saudi-led coalition and the The United Arab Emirates launched its ongoing war against the country, targeting Houthi-allied armed forces that seized the capital, Sanaa, the previous year.
Although Chain is the film’s executive producer, there are apparently no plans for him to travel to Syria.
The film, titled Home operation which is also produced by Chinese filmmakers based in the UAE, SYX Pictures was announced last year. At the time, director and co-producer Song Yinxi explained that “it is one of the few Arabic-themed films in China, but it will be subtitled in English and Arabic, distributed worldwide on websites cinema and streaming”.
“The pandemic has delayed the launch of this film, but in October, filming will begin in the United Arab Emirates, then in Lebanon and other Arab countries. I hope we will release it before the summer of 2022,” added Song.
The film “Home Operation”, produced by “Jackie Chan”, was launched in the neighborhood of al-Hajar al-Aswad in #Damascus.
Directed by Yinxi Song.
It revolves around the emergency evacuation of Chinese citizens and diplomats during the war in #Yemen in 2015. pic.twitter.com/bmFOsGi6e7— Majd Fahd 🇸🇾 (@Syria_Protector) July 15, 2022
Song also said he hopes SYX Pictures will serve as a base for himself and the Chinese film industry in the MENA region.
According AFPYemen as a filming location was deemed too dangerous, with some scenes filmed in Hajar Al-Aswad in Syria, a former Daesh stronghold, located about four kilometers south of Damascus.
On Thursday, the ruins of Hajar Al-Aswad were “filled with a motley crew of actors in Yemeni tribal attire, Syrian extras in uniform and Chinese film crew members in polo shirts,” the report noted.
Speaking at the launch of filming in Syria, Song told reporters that the film takes the perspective of Communist Party diplomats, who braved a hail of bullets in a war-torn country and safely brought safety all Chinese compatriots on the country’s warship unharmed.
China’s ambassador to Damascus was also present at the launch, which is expected to last several days.
In 2018, a similar theme was the subject of the Sino-Hong Kong action war film titled Operation Red Sea, which was loosely based on the same evacuation involving over 600 Chinese nationals and over 200 nationals from other countries in the port city in southern Yemen. Aden. It was filmed in Morocco and described as “China’s first modern naval film”.
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