If you wonder what Chinese action star Jackie Chan has been up to lately, well, here is your scoop. He's been shooting a Chinese government propaganda film in the depths of war-torn Syria.
The production, titled Home Operation, is inspired by China’s evacuation of hundreds of Chinese citizens and foreign nationals from war-torn Yemen in 2015. While the team behind the film deemed shooting in Yemen too dangerous, they opted for the area of Hajar al-Aswad on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria a much better choice.
The film is being directed by Song Yinxi and produced by Chan, who has become a fervent CCP (Chinese Communist Party) propagandist.
Additional scenes in the film will be shot in other Middle East countries, including the United Arab Emirates.
In an article published in The Guardian, journalist Andrew Pulver points to the problematic, at best, history of the place where Chan's production has decided to shoot: "Al-Hajar al-Aswad is 4km south of Damascus, near the Yarmouk refugee camp. In 2012, early in the Syrian civil war, the area was a stronghold for anti-government rebels the Free Syrian Army; in 2015, however, the surrounding area was largely taken over by Islamic State. After three years of fighting, the area was captured by government forces in 2018, with the help of Palestinian militias and Russian air attacks. Throughout the conflict China has maintained diplomatic support for Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad."
Photo credit: REUTERS/FIRAS MAKDESI
