Daily Times

Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Syed Jamal Shah has said that building bridges through art and culture between Pakistan and China is important and significant.

“The opportunity for us to work with our Chinese brothers and sisters and express our bonds through people-to-people contacts and bridges in the form of art such as film will make our friendship more resilient and more lasting,” the minister told the Global Times.

Jamal Shah also attended the screening of Ba’Tie Girl in Beijing and awarded the Pakistan-China Cultural Exchange Envoy award to Xie Peng, the producer of the film.

While trade and commerce under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have great economic importance, Jamal Shah noted that building bridges through art and culture is equally or even more significant. The minister also noted that the film reflects the growing cultural and collaborative ties between Pakistan and China.

“I think the culture corridor should be the strongest corridor, not because I’m an artist myself, but because art and culture is the best possible means of communication. It is the most effective one,” Jamal Shah said. The friendship between Pakistan and China is higher than mountains, deeper than the ocean, sweeter than honey and stronger than steel. And today we are going to see such friendship through film, Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque said ahead of the screening of the film Ba’Tie Girl.

The film Ba’Tie Girl is the first major co-production by Pakistani and Chinese producers. Translating to “Dost Larki” in Urdu, the title means “the girl from ironclad brother Pakistan.” It embodies the essence of friendship between the peoples of China and Pakistan.

The film is about the empowering journey and the growth of girls that develops around the friendship between a Chinese female engineer associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and a teenage Pakistani girl who share a passion for soccer. They bravely confront hardships and fight against biases, stereotypes and restrictions against girls in a remote and conservative village in Pakistan. Eventually they overcome these challenges and find their inner strength.