A film poster for "A Mongolian Tale". [Photo/en.xmu.edu.cn]

At the Xiamen University-iQIYI Joint Laboratory of Film Restoration, led by Professor Jing Yingrui and Associate Professor Zhang Aigong, a special team has restored classic films such as "The Spring River Flows East" and "Zhang Ga the Soldier Boy".

The newly restored film "A Mongolian Tale" will return to the screen during the China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival.

in 2010, Professor Jing, a veteran film archivist, rescued over 1,000 boxes of 20th-century film copies scattered across private collections, dilapidated cinemas, and even discarded trash in Lijiang, Yunnan province.

Film reels and equipment from XMU's collection. [Photo/en.xmu.edu.cn]

Four years later, Xiamen University (XMU) became the first institution in China to host a sound archive and film museum combining exhibition, preservation, and restoration functions, providing ideal conditions for safeguarding and repairing old celluloid.

During the restoration process, technicians wear white gloves and use soft brushes moistened with deionized water to meticulously remove mold and perform pre-treatment disinfection on the fragile film. A 35mm reel is thinner than a book page, and even minor mishandling can cause breakage.

The film is then mounted on a precision scanner and digitized frame by frame in 4K resolution. Each 90-minute film contains approximately 120,000 frames, requiring three days to complete. AI algorithms can help identify physical damage, marking scratches, distortions, and potential playback issues on digital files.

Founded in 2021 with support from iQIYI, the laboratory combines XMU's academic expertise with iQIYI's strengths in AI and digital imaging. The collaboration has led to the development of a comprehensive restoration system – including imaging, AI-assisted repair, color grading, and sound optimization – establishing a benchmark for technical standards in China.