A film project adapting a short story by veteran writer Wang Meng was launched on May 18 at Tianshan Film Studio in Urumqi, the capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The film, In Ili, draws on Wang's six-year experience in the region's Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture.

Born in October 1934, Wang is a recipient of the national honorary title "People's Artist" and a former minister of culture. From the ages of 29 to 45, he spent 16 years in Xinjiang, mostly in Urumqi and Ili. In 1965, he went to what is now the Bayandai town of Ili's Yining city, where he lived and worked with local farmers, learned the Uygur language and became drawn to the local culture. Those six years became the basis for his short story collection In Ili, written from 1983-84.

According to The Writers Publishing House, the work's publisher, it's set for global translation and publication. Projects for foreign-language editions, including English, Spanish and French, have already been approved.

The film will adapt one piece from it, titled Pale Gray Eyes. The story is told from the first-person perspective of a writer named Lao Wang — a surname he shares with the author himself. It follows his observations of and interactions with a young carpenter and his wife, as well as various villagers. In their shared life and emotions, the community supports one another.

At the launch ceremony, Wang expressed hope that the film would be grounded in life and would create rich, well-rounded personalities. "The people of Xinjiang's various ethnic groups are diverse, yet they share warmth, vitality, wisdom, optimism, romance and imagination," he said, adding that they have their own unique ways of understanding and solving problems.

Wang said his characters have distinct personalities and wisdom that fit their time. They're friendly, harmonious and tolerant. For him, the work vividly shows how different ethnic groups in Xinjiang share a common destiny, a common life and common emotions, as well as how their cultures exchange, integrate and interact.

According to Jing Luzhou, Party secretary of Tianshan Film Studio, the production team conducted field research in Ili in September 2025, and the script has been through several rounds of revisions. Shooting is scheduled to begin in the second half of this year, with release expected by the end of 2027.

Xirzat Yahup, the film's director, noted that the crew's goal is to capture the optimism and wisdom of the people who are deeply rooted in the land. "They are optimistic. They talk with pride. There's a lot of philosophy about life in Wang's writing, and I believe this will leave room for the audience to reflect on life's truths," he said.

"That requires careful thinking about how to translate these ideas onto the screen through cinematography."

While refining the script, he said, they are scouting various filming locations