Epic Film Maker

Movie director Chen Kaige's latest epic film Sacrifice hit theatres on December 4.

The film is adapted from the 2,000-year-old story The Orphan of the Zhao Family, which features jealousy, murder and revenge. Cheng Ying, the hero, sacrificed his own baby son to save hundreds of other babies. The story was once dramatized by French writer and philosopher Voltaire as The Orphan of China.

"It is a classical tragedy, known to Chinese and many foreigners. I didn't want to make the film sound too sophisticated. The purpose of the production is simply to share a good story," Chen said.

As a leading figure of the prestigious "fifth generation" of filmmakers who began their careers in the early 1980s and are the mainstay of China's film industry, Chen, 58, is the earliest of Chinese directors to achieve international recognition. His Farewell My Concubine won the top award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993. Other notable works by Chen include Yellow Earth (1984), The Emperor and the Assassin (1999), The Promise (2005) and Forever Enthralled (2008).

Football Coach Honored

Ma Yuanan, former head coach of the Chinese women's football, has received the Gold Service Award from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Ma was presented with the award for his role in developing women's football in China. He is the only recipient from the Chinese mainland among 38 Asian coaches and instructors who were honored for their years of contributions to Asian football as the AFC marks 2010 as Asian Coaches Year.

Ma, 65, who has already retired, was a football player until 1975. He coached the Beijing Women's Team from 1986 to 1992 and served as head coach of the national women's team from 1992 to 2001.

Ma created a prime era in Chinese women's football. Under his coaching, the Chinese team was runner-up in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup and the Olympic Games in 1996.

Yogurt Tycoon Arrested

Li Tuchun, founder and former President of Taizinai, a leading Chinese fermented yogurt producer, has been arrested on charges of illegal fund raising, along with three high-ranking executives of the company.

Initial investigation shows that beginning in February 2008, Taizinai raised more than 137 million yuan ($21 million) in a desperate bid to rescue the company from financial problems. The funds were illegally collected from the company's distributors, employees and the public. The company failed to repay most of the money.

Li, 50, founded Taizinai in 1996 with 1 million yuan ($150,000). The company became an industry leader after 10 years' development, with accumulated sales topping 5 billion yuan ($750 million).

Rapid expansion in recent years, however, resulted in the company taking on a debt of over 2 billion yuan ($300 million). Its overseas debtors included Morgan Stanley, Actis Capital, and Goldman Sachs.

In July this year, the local court in Zhuzhou, where Taizinai is based, accepted a bankruptcy lawsuit against the company and ordered it to carry out debt restructuring.