Chinese film “Starry Road” makes its grand premiere at Hong King Space Museum on June 11, 2022. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

A film featuring a group of children in Guangzhou vying to be the world’s rope-jumping champions and world record holders made its grand premiere at Hong Kong Space Museum on Saturday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland. 

Starry Road is based on the real-life story of 33 children from poor families learning rope jumping at a rural primary school in the Guangdong provincial capital. After overcoming various obstacles, they went on to become world rope-jumping champions, breaking a dozen world records. The  movie is directed by Xie Deju, a senior reporter at the Guangzhou Broadcasting Network. The story first caught the public’s eye when Xie made a three-minute documentary which was later adapted and turned into a movie by the network. 

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Starry Road won the “Best Children Film” accolade at the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards in Xiamen, Fujian province, in 2020, as well as many other international awards

Evonne Shuai, a senior reporter at Guangzhou Broadcasting Network, said at the premiere that none of the actors and actresses in the film was a professional, with the news protagonists being invited to act it out. 

Starry Road won the “Best Children Film” accolade at the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards in Xiamen, Fujian province, in 2020, as well as many other international awards. It is the first movie to be screened during the Cinema Carnival of Lights – an outdoor event organized by Southern Film Company to mark the 25th anniversary of the SAR’s establishment. The carnival is among more than 500 events planned to mark the anniversary. 

The screening was supported by Bauhinia Culture Group. Wu Baoan, a  member of the board of Bauhinia Culture Group, said all the films featured in the carnival have the elements of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as shown in the film Anita — a story about the late Hong Kong Cantopop diva Anita Mui Yimfong – and The Captain, directed by a Hong Kong filmmaker. 

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More than 20 films will be screened to showcase the changes in Hong Kong before and after the handover, as well as the brand new face of the Chinese mainland.

Wu said he hopes the films will bring warmth and joy to the people of Hong Kong, with the city getting into a festive mood. They’ll be screened this month at various venues across the city, including plazas and outdoor parks.