Becoming the Monkey King: A Boy’s Harsh Beijing Opera Training | Kids on the Silk Road

11-year old Yang from Beijing plays the leading role as the Monkey King at the famous Chinese Opera. But his passion for this traditional art form is misunderstood by his peers. In the attempt to fit in at school, he invites three classmates to the premiere. Will they now understand his fascination with the myth of the Monkey King, and accept him as a friend?

The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes that were central to cultural interaction connecting the East and West. It created curiosity among cultures, for example with tea and silk from China suddenly sold in Venice. The trading may be a thing of the past, but the culture is still there… We chose the Silk Road because we want to show the kids how colorful the world is and to create understanding and curiosity of the different cultures. What if we all had less prejudice and more curiosity? Would the world be more colorful and less hierarchical? Would there be more empathy? Could we in the West try to learn from other cultures?

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Original title: Monkey King - Kids on the Silk Road (S2/E5)
A film by Jens Pedersen, Kaspar Astrup Schröder, Simon Lereng Wilmont & Camilla Magid
© 2020, Licensed by Autlook

Chapters
▷ 00:00 - Intro
▷ 00:29 - Monkey King - Kids on the Silk Road (Beijing)
▷ 20:42 - Credits