TEHRAN -- Oscar-nominated Iranian director Majid Majidi began shooting his short film on Beijing during a ceremony attended by a number of Chinese and Iranian cultural figures in Beijing on Sunday evening.

Organized by the Beijing Association for Cultural Exchanges with Foreign Countries, the "Vision Beijing" program aims at choosing five world-known film directors to each shoot a five-minute film to promote Beijing before it hosts the 2008 Olympic Games.

The films will be shown on television, in cinemas, and on aircraft in China and abroad.

Other filmmakers that plan to help promote China through short films include Oliver Stone from the U.S. and Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore.

Majidi said that his film will focus on Beijing children.

“Children are the symbol of purity and honesty, and I hope this film help strengthen ties between the two Chinese and Iranian nations,” Majid said during the ceremony.

“I will try to introduce Beijing’s traditions, history, culture, and civilization via the children-centered film,” he added.

Shooting is scheduled to be completed in the next two weeks.

“I hope this cultural step will be a beginning for joint production between Iran and China,” Majid said.

“Muslims living peacefully beside other ethnic groups in China connect Chinese people to Iranians,” he added.

Last October, Majidi received the Asian Film Culture Award in recognition of his efforts to popularize Asian cinema and his artistic achievements in cinematography from the 5th Third Eye Film Festival in Bombay.

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has added the English screenplay of Majidi’s “Children of Heaven” to high school textbooks.

“Children of Heaven” was nominated in the category of Best Foreign Language Film at the annual Academy Awards in 1998 and his “Baran” was selected by Iranian cultural officials to represent Iranian cinema in the event in 2001.