EastMeetsWest Trailer 1 min (a) wm

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

For the National Geographic Channel, this acclaimed film is one of its most visually stunning, culturally fascinating and historically dramatic programs ever. For one of Nat Geo’s legendary photographers, Michael Yamashita, this is the first of his two globally acclaimed documentaries. And through these films, like never before, viewers can travel back centuries in time, as Nat Geo’s intrepid photojournalist retraces the epic journeys of two of the world’s greatest explorers: Italy’s Marco Polo from the west and China’s Zheng He from the east.

These award-winning programs are the inspiration for the upcoming documentary series, East Meets West, by Farland Chang, and based on the lifetime of work by Michael Yamashita.

These two films about Marco Polo and Zheng He will kick off the series. To learn when, where and how to watch as each new episode premieres, please visit www.eastmeetswestfilm.com, subscribe for updates and join us on social media. Get ready for the journey of a lifetime!

Summary1

This is the epic story of one of the world’s greatest explorers whose name you probably never heard: Zheng He. 600 years ago, this Chinese Admiral commanded the largest fleet of ships the world had ever seen. And his rise and fall is the cautionary tale of what historians say is one of worst foreign policy decisions ever.

Admiral Zheng He ruled the seas before the legendary explorations of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Ferdinand Magellan. Zheng He sailed from Ming-dynasty China, and in 28 years, made seven voyages visiting 30 countries. With his fleet of hundreds of junks, he traveled from Southeast Asia to Africa, from India to the Middle East, gathering riches, scientific knowledge, fame, and power for his emperor. He came close to conquering the world, until the Ming Dynasty’s power shriveled and the explorer’s accomplishments were all but forgotten.

More than six centuries after his first voyage, acclaimed photographer Michael Yamashita restores the deeds of the „Forgotten Admiral“ to their rightful place in history. In this compelling tribute to Zheng He, Yamashita traces each of his journeys and pays homage to the impressive achievements of this explorer whose feats equal or surpass those of other better-known explorers. In a meticulous visual recreation that has become his signature style, Yamashita presents the details of each voyage, chronicling the interactions and commercial exchanges, and documenting, through his exceptional photographs, the diverse locales Zheng He discovered in nearly three decades of intense exploration.

Summary2

The makers of ‘Marco Polo – the China Mystery Revealed’ are proud to announce the release of this compelling story as a two-hour special: „THE EPIC VOYAGE OF ZHENG HE.“

From the breathtaking opening shots of the African Swahili coast, this film is cinematic celebration of timeless beauty. Medieval Yemeni hilltop towns, ancient martial arts portrayed with balletic artistry, brutal religious piercings and the incomparable majesty of Perahera, all contribute to a pallet of rarely equaled cultural diversity.

From the eerie castration of the young hero to his final faltering steps in the Forbidden City and his enemies close in like vultures around carrion, the historical recreations about life of Zheng He’s are executed with the grandeur and distance of a renaissance painting. They evoke the power of Ming dynasty China rather than spoil the illusion by getting too close.

In tracing the voyages of the great fleet and is enigmatic leader ‘Ghost Fleet’ (released by National Geographic Channel as ‘Treasure Fleet’) brings the past alive through its observant narrator Mike Yamashita, and brings the documentary film into the realm of the epic feature. Through Mike’s eyes, we learn of the legacy left behind by this extraordinary man and glimpse an era in Chinese history that promised so much and left so little.

Ming China had half the world in its grasp and the other half within easy reach, but something happened that suddenly brought this great era to an end. This film unravels the mystery of the vanishing fleet and the consequences of these colossal turn of events.Ghost Fleet was filmed on location in 13 countries from the famous spice island of Zanzibar, to the Subcontinent and across the Indian Ocean to South East Asia and of course China itself.

Alternative title: Treasure Fleet: The Adventures of Zheng He