IDG China Media Fund has announced that it will cooperate with state-owned China Film Group to invest in five Chinese-language films over two years.

China Film president Han Sanping and IDG China Media Fund president Hugo Shong signed a memo of cooperation in Beijing on Thursday.

The first film to benefit from the deal will be An Zhanjun's Sunshine In The Alley (working title), a $780,000 (RMB6m) contemporary drama about a penniless and frustrated father struggling to gain a prosperous future for his son.

It is understood that the next four projects to be funded under the deal will also be contemporary stories. 'We feel that modern stories that reflect contemporary Chinese lives have more market potential than costume dramas and martial arts fare, which have less appeal to audiences in Europe and North America,' said Shong.

Han explained that Sunshine was previously selected as one of the 'Focused National Film' series on China Film's 2007 slate, which are traditionally seen as propaganda films.

'It is the first time that such a 'Focused National Film' has received overseas investment,' said Han at the press conference in Beijing.

IDG China Media Fund was established earlier this year with partners including IDG, News Corp and Hearst Group. The $50m fund aims to invest in media and movie projects in China, with IDG being the anchor manager of the fund.

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