To encourage more talented Chinese and foreign filmmakers to join telling China's stories, a project to sponsor filmmakers and collect brilliant documentaries about China's stories in the new era, the Image Possibilities Coproduction Plan, was launched in Beijing on Tuesday.

Some experienced filmmakers, including Japanese director Takeuchi Ryo and Oscar-winning UK filmmaker Malcolm Clarke have been invited to join the project as consultants who will also provide advice and guidance to participants.

The project focuses on two categories of works, 21-minute documentaries and 10-minute short videos. The project will sponsor five documentaries and 10 short videos on themes given by the project, an employee working for the organizing committee for the project told the Global Times.

Following the program, there will also be diverse events such as creative workshops for Chinese and foreign directors, global exhibition ceremonies and the International Documentary Conference.

Wu Xu, director of the External Promotion Department of China's State Council Information Office, spoke at the project's launch ceremony, saying it will gather domestic and foreign directors to focus on China's achievements and reform, depict its prosperity and record the long success of China, enabling foreign viewers to get a closer look at the country.

She noted that filmmakers can pick unique and creative perspectives to observe China and its people, digging out moving stories from the daily lives of common Chinese peoplewho can show the world their merits such as optimism, kindness and tenacity.

Tony Qiu, senior vicepresident of Discovery Channel, noted in a video address at the opening ceremony that as an international medium, the channel aims to help more Chinese directors hone their talents with international vision and produce high-quality documentaries that fit the viewing habits of international audiences.

In addition to the ceremony kicking off the new program, the New Era International Communication Non-fictional Program Exhibition was held so that visitors could learn more about the efforts of filmmakers.

The exhibition showed posters of well-received documentaries made by domestic and foreign filmmakers telling a diverse array of Chinese stories.

For instance, the poster for Clarke's four-episode documentary series A Long Cherished Dream, about China's path to achieving xiaokang, a moderately prosperous society, was on display.

Clarke told the Global Times that he is interested in exploring and telling Chinese stories and each time he arrives in the country, he has seen for himself China's great breakthroughs: the reform and opening-up, building the Chinese Dream and the completion of building a moderately prosperous society.

The poster for a 45-minute documentary that examines China's 2020 national college entrance exams, or gaokao, which Japanese director Takeuchi worked on, was also displayed at the exhibition.

In the documentary, Takeuchi focused his segment on exam volunteers in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, such as taxi drivers who volunteered to drive candidates to exam venues.

Takeuchi and Clarke both gave prerecorded video addresses at the opening ceremony.

The project is co-hosted by the China International Communications Group, Fujian Provincial Bureau of Radio and Television, Fujian Media Group, streaming platform Bilibili and the Discovery Channel.