For many Chinese, their mobile phones have become an increasingly powerful multimedia platform from which they can not only dial out or pick up calls but also play mobile games, send text messages, listen to music and check out photos and film clips.

However, watching a full-length movie with high-speed access, and decent visual and sound quality on a mobile phone might soon be possible as attempts to shoot mini-dramas and short movies tailored for the tiny screen have been made in recent months.

The latest such move comes from the Beijing Film Academy, Asia's largest movie education institution. Zhang Huijun, president of the academy, unveiled on Tuesday a project to shoot 10 "mobile movies" for mobile phone users.

The movies will be shot with digital, high-definition video cameras and put onto mobile phones with technical support from telecoms service provider Nokia Inc.

In director Xu Jinglei's view, "the mobile phone offers an alternative channel for movie releases. But whether mobile movies will survive, and go mainstream will mainly depend on the demands of mobile phone users, and the market."

(chinanews June 30, 2005)