Film about unlikely bond raises social awareness

By Xu Fan | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2024-11-01 15:07 A still image of Stand by Me. Stand by Me, a heartfelt story about the unlikely bond of brotherhood between a homeless thief and a boy, is set to conclude its theatrical run and become available on streaming sites, according to the producers during a seminar in Beijing on Wednesday. Organized by the Movie Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Henan Film Administration, major creators, including director Yin Ruoxin and actors Wang Junkai and Chen Yongsheng, attended the event. The movie was inspired by a 2017 news report about a 21-year-old homeless man who wandered from Sichuan province to Shaanxi province, forming a unique bond with an 8-year-old boy. Sun Chengjian, deputy head of the Movie and TV Series Research Institution at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, said that the film holds significance in prompting profound reflections on social issues, encouraging awareness and concern for current circumstances and emotional challenges faced by homeless youth and children.