AN official promotion film for Shenzhen that was released online recently featured many popular spots in Futian District.

    The statue of Deng Xiaoping, the Civic Center, the CBD area, the greenway in mangrove park, book city, the concert hall and several sculptures were in the film.

    “The scenes are so beautiful in the film, making me feel so proud to be a ‘Futianer,’” one netizen said.

    The seven-minute city promotion film was made last year and has been shown at many city events and on several Chinese TV channels in countries such as the United States and Australia.

    It includes several themes, such as Opening-up, Green, Innovation, Culture, Fashion and Future. It is the latest official film introducing the city and will be sent as a gift to other cities around the world.

    The film was released on the Internet and quickly became a hot topic.

    “I have been living in Shenzhen for more than 10 years and have been to many places in the city. However, I’ve never been to a lot of the places in the film. They are so stunning,” the netizen said.

    In the past, promotion films were normally about 20 minutes long, blending different factors to showcase all aspects of the city. Such a short but beautiful film is very rare, said Huang Renzhong, the film’s lead director.

    “In fact, Shenzhen has not made a promotion film for several years. However, Mayor Xu Qin said that we should make a new one as the city now has so many new factors such as the Metro, Qianhai area and the new bridge,” said Huang, who is also a director at SZTV.

    It took only about a year to make the film. “It is very hard to make everything from scratch. A lot of the footage we used was filmed in the past,” Huang explained. “Many Shenzhen residents are actually very familiar with the city, but it still holds many secrets. What they are unfamiliar with the most are those beautiful moments.”

    “Shenzhen is actually so beautiful” — this is the reaction that Huang was looking for.

    The film is named “Shenzhen, China.” “This name has been changed a million times. In the beginning, we were thinking about names such as ‘Charming Shenzhen,’ because, in the past, Shenzhen was not very famous in the international world. We used to start our films by introducing it as a city bordering Hong Kong. However, this is not necessary now. Therefore, we decided to use this name — simple and elegant. It is a symbol of confidence. Whoever watches it will be in love with the city,” Huang said.

    Some of the footage was taken by news crews, such as scenes of the city’s marathons. “No matter what kind of footage we used, it all showcased the beauty of Shenzhen,” Huang said.

    The film also attracted the attention of city officials. “Mayor Xu has checked the film three times. I sat by him. He watched so carefully, and even noticed the smallest things,” Huang said.

    The film originally included a scene that showed the moon going up between the book city and the concert hall. “However, Mayor Xu thought that this was not realistic, so we chose not to use it. He gave us much useful feedback,” Huang said.

    The film was entirely shot in Shenzhen, and it only cost a few hundred thousand yuan to produce.

    “The city planned to release the film at Times Square in New York. However, because the screen there is portrait and the film is landscape, we gave up that idea. I did not expect the film to draw so much attention on the Internet. Many of my friends told me that they have seen it online and were really impressed,” Huang said.(Wang Yuanyuan)