A Chinese-British joint TV documentary on Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher and educator, held its world premiere in London, the United Kingdom, on Oct 21, during President Xi's state visit.

The documentary, which explores Confucius and his teachings, has one international and one domestic version. The international version started filming on Sept 28, 2014, to coincide with the great philosopher’s 2,565th birthday.

The documentary holds a press conference and world premiere in London, the United Kingdom, on Oct 21. [Photo/sdwht.gov.cn]

The broadcast rights for the international version, which consists of two episodes, were already sold to many TV companies in the UK, France, the United States, Germany, Australia and Japan. The domestic version will start shooting soon and is expected to premiere next year.

The documentary is a joint production by the China Central Television (CCTV), China International Television Corporation, Shandong Dazhong Media Group and British Lion film company.

The documentary is an example of Chinese-British cooperation in creative culture industry. [Photo/sdwht.gov.cn]

"The documentary Confucius not only presents a memorable, classic production but also explores a new model of China-­UK historical documentary co-production," said Guo Weimin, deputy director of China's State Council Information Office, at the premiere in London.

In order to show the life experience and philosophy of Confucius and his influence in the world, the production crew traveled to different destinations, including the United States, the UK and various Chinese locations such as Shandong, Hebei, Sichuan and Guangdong provinces, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Beijing for research, interviews and filming.

They also visited Confucius' birthplace, Mount Nishan, where they interviewed local people to put his life, ideology and influence under the spotlight and filmed Confucius-related historic relics.

Edited by Mevlut Katik