Chinese make TV version of The Dawns Here Are Quiet"

A Beijing television channel will make a 20-part miniseries based on Russian writer Boris Vasilyev's story, "The Dawns Here Are Quiet." The series will be shot in Russia, in the lower part the Amur River which borders on Heilongjiang, a Chinese province in northeastern China, the deputy head of the Cultural Department of the Amur regional administration, Olga Yurkova, said Friday.

According to her, actors are currently being cast for the series in Blagoveshchensk, the administrative center of the region.

Six Russian actresses and one Russian actor are expected to be cast in the leading roles. About 200 people will be extras. The film will be shot in villages in the Amur region, Red Square in Moscow, and Heihe, a Chinese city on the bank of the Amur River opposite Blagoveshchensk.

Presently, the group filming the series are scouting locations for the film.

The actors and actresses from the Amur State Drama Theatre are frequently invited to be in Chinese films, Ms. Yurkova said.

In the near future, the Chinese side will notify the Amur regional authorities about the beginning of filming.

The premiere of the film will be in May 2005 and will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in Great Patriotic War..

The Russian version of the film was released in the Soviet Union in the 70s. It depicts the heroism of a female platoon in the battles against the Nazis in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).