China's first documentary filmed in space, presenting 8K ultra-high-definition footage captured by the country's astronauts, premiered in London on Friday.
The "SHENZHOU 13," or "Blue Planet Outside the Window," chronicles the Shenzhou-13 mission, featuring China's first six-month manned space station stay and the first spacewalk by a Chinese female astronaut.
The premiere took place at a reception celebrating the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, hosted by the Chinese Embassy in the UK. The event attracted more than 400 guests representing different sectors.
Wang Qi, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Britain, delivered a speech at the reception, highlighting China's advancements in technology and green innovation, which are leading the development of new quality productive forces in the country and expanding opportunities for cooperation between China and the UK.
In her speech, Seema Malhotra, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities, noted that the UK has always valued its relationship with China, and that UK-China cooperation boasts broad prospects in numerous areas such as economy, trade, science and technology, education, and culture.
Attendees expressed admiration for China's progress in aerospace as well as great expectations for closer UK-China cooperation in the future.
"I think China is leading the world already with renewable energy, with electrical vehicle, with aviation, AI, with all the development infrastructure that is there. We can see a lot of development in the aviation industry and aerospace. I know that the moment there is a big initiative on low altitude, obviously the aircraft for flying drones and flying air taxi, that's been also charging ahead of everyone in the world. In terms of AI, aerospace -- (these) are already in the development process, and we can see that the big change is going to happen in the future," said Amer Sayed, founder and CEO of Aviation Education Pathways.
"We're both committed to world peace and to global governance. We are both members of the UN Security Council after all, and we are [two of the] five members permanently. So I think there's every reason to think that in the coming years, China and the UK will have much more to do with each other than they have had even in the past," said Martin Albrow, a fellow of the Academy of Social Science in the UK.
Largely told by Wang Yaping, the country's first female astronaut venturing on a mission to the space station, "Blue Planet Outside the Window" offers unprecedented, spectacular views of our planet from about 400 kilometers above and gives intimate glimpses into life aboard the station.
The 90-minute film employs a straightforward narrative style to tell the story of the astronaut trio -- Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu. It depicts their experiences in space, including conducting experiments, going on spacewalks, exercising, getting haircuts, playing musical instruments, celebrating the New Year, giving lectures, and filming 8K footage.
The specialized filming equipment was delivered to the space station via the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft.
The Shenzhou-13 mission sent three crew members to China's space station core module on Oct 16, 2021 and returned to Earth on April 16, 2022.
China's first in-space documentary premieres in UK, presenting manned mission in 8K
China's first in-space documentary premieres in UK, presenting manned mission in 8K
