As a supported project of the Documentary China communication initiative by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, the first episode of the 5-episode documentary Hudec (Chinese version) premiered on the Science and Education Channel of China Media Group on October 21. The remaining four episodes will be broadcast from October 22 to 25. Tongji University played a significant role in the three-year filming of this documentary.

Produced and presented by the Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio (Group), the 5-episode documentary, with each episode lasting 30 minutes, takes the life story of Hudec, a Hungarian architect of Slovak descent who worked in Shanghai, as its entry point. It reconstructs the stories of people from different ethnic groups and cultures exchanging and collaborating to create classics amidst the two world wars. It showcases how a galaxy of Chinese and foreign architects jointly built Shanghai, leaving behind a rich urban cultural heritage. The documentary expresses the eternal theme that civilizations become colorful through exchanges and enriched through mutual learning. The English version of the documentary was broadcast on the CGTN Documentary Channel in early September, and the promotional video was premiered at the opening ceremony of the Chinese Film Festival held in Slovakia at the end of September. Versions in French, Spanish, and other languages will also be broadcast successively. The documentary also serves as an important testament to the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary, as well as between China and Slovakia this year.

Academician Zheng Shiling, Professor Wu Jiang, and Professor Hua Xiahong from the College of Architecture and Urban Planning served as academic advisors for the documentary, overseeing various aspects including content planning, resource organization, professional support, and English translation. Professor Huang Yiru, Associate Professor Tang Weijie from the School of Humanities, Professor Zhou Ying from the School of Civil Engineering, as well as numerous alumni including Zhang Ming, Tang Yuen, Tong Ming, Zhang Qin, Lin Yun, Qian Jian, Jiang Chunqian, and Feng Li from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning participated in the filming.

The documentary also benefited from the continuous and deep-rooted research in the field of modern architectural history in Shanghai, which has been passed down through generations in Tongji's architecture department. From participating in the national Three Histories Survey of architecture in the 1950s to publishing the first monograph on modern architectural research in Shanghai in the 1980s, Tongji has made outstanding contributions in the fields of urban and architectural history research, historic building preservation, and urban renewal in Shanghai through nearly 70 years of accumulation. Over the past 30 years, 156 dissertations on modern architectural history in Shanghai have been completed. Books published by Tongji University Press, such as A Century of Architecture in Shanghai 1840-1949, Modern Architectural Styles in Shanghai (new edition), Map of Hudec's Architecture in Shanghai, The Green House, and Hudec (translated work), also provided historical support for the documentary.

The College of Architecture and Urban Planning will also collaborate with the documentary's creative team to host the A World Connected by a Shanghai Architect: Documentary 'Hudec' Exhibition and Tongji Academic Pedigree Exhibition on Modern Architects in Shanghai at the end of this year. This exhibition will showcase the historical contributions of modern Chinese and foreign architects in Shanghai and the profound accumulation of the Tongji School in the field of basic research on modern urban and architectural history in Shanghai.