Man makes his own Cinema Paradiso, Chinese style

As night fell on Saturday, movie projectionist Wang Xuehui began to screen an outdoor movie in the Qingshuiyin community of Xinxing township in Changchun, Jilin province, attracting around 100 nearby residents from age 2 to 90.

Unlike movies in modern theaters, this one was played by an old film projector using a curtain for a screen. It takes audiences back to decades gone by.

Wang, who is retired, started screening outdoor movies in Changchun after he became a community volunteer in 2021. By chance, another resident suggested watching outdoor movies, which greatly attracted Wang.

Like the central character in the touching Academy Award-winning Italian film Cinema Paradiso, he followed his movie dream.

"I had dreamed of being a projectionist since childhood," he said. "So I decided to take the job, which could help realize it."

However, it was not easy for him to find old movies or a film projectord in digital times.

He tried to meet collectors of old movies to purchase films and equipment from them. He also spent lots of time learning how to fix projectors.

Over the years, he has spent nearly 100,000 yuan ($13,716) buying around 40 old movies and four projectors.

"Although we have welcomed the era of digital movies, every time when I play the old movies outdoors, lots of residents come to see," he said. "I'm so glad when audiences are moved by these old films and feel my work is quite meaningful."

"Now I am getting older," he said. "I hope I can pass the techniques to young people who are also interested in old movies."