娱乐英语新闻:"Snow Flower And the Secret Fan" premieres in New York

NEW YORK, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The China-U.S. co-production "Snow Flower And the Secret Fan" debuted here Wednesday night, with China's Li Bingbing and Australian Nicole Kidman among the stars gracing the red carpet.

Through two parallel stories, one set in contemporary Shanghai and the other taking place in 19th century Hunan province in south central China, the film portrays a close female friendship and introduces the concept of "laotong", a life-time bond between girls in ancient China in which they swear to be sisters and communicate through a secret language.

"In the movie, you can see both ancient and modern China, it helps to understand Chinese culture and know more about China," Li, the film's leading actress, told Xinhua.

"We have a Chinese actress, also a Korean actress, and our director is an American-Chinese. The whole team is quite international, from Korea, from United States, Australia. So it's an interesting experience," said Wendi Murdoch, one of the co-producers of the film.

For director Wayne Wang, shooting the film marked his second shooting in China after his renowned "Joy Luck Club". He said things had changed rapidly in what has become one of the world's fastest-growing film industries.

"The Chinese film industry is really flourishing, and you get the sense that, with every project, they are learning more and more," he said.

The film will hit theaters on July 15 in New York.