Historically an important link on the Silk Road, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's northwest frontier bears a certain cultural resemblance to its bordering regions and even more with middle and western Asia that share the same Muslim roots. Today, due to the region's fast technological development, Uyghur cultural enterprises are exerting their influence not just within the country, but also westward.
One of the most internationally popular examples of Arabic culture is an ancient collection of folk tales from Arab countries known as One Thousand and One Nights. Now this symbolic cultural heritage will be produced into an animated series, according to a news release by Qarluq Media Tech Company in Xinjiang this month.
On Iranian TV
"There will be a total of 104 episodes divided into four parts. The first 26 episodes will be broadcast both in Iran and China in 2014," said Pahridin Qarluq, president of the company. He noted the project is a cooperative effort between his company and the Iranian company Alphabet Holdings, a leading investment company in the country.
"A joint venture will be established in Iran and officially start operation in March next year, and our company will hold 60 percent of the stakes," said Pahridin. "It will not just be responsible for the production of One Thousand and One Nights animated series, but other extended products like related movies and video games," he told the Global Times.
Established in 2008, Qarluq Me?dia is a digital animation production and software development company. Though still young - with its founder, Pahridin, born in the 1980s - the company is rising rapidly across the country through its products. With a subsidiary in Shanghai, it offers products like 360-degree movie production for museums and studios to inner Chinese regions.
As for the cooperation this time with Iran, Qarluq Media will mainly be responsible for the technology and production, and Iran's Alphabet Holdings will be in charge of release in the region.
"While the first 26 episodes (at 24 minutes each) are being broadcast in Iran in 2014, domestic audiences will also be able to watch them through television stations, some of which are still holding discussions," said Pahridin. And for the rest of the 78 episodes, he added, each of them will be broadcast along its production.
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