Filmmaker's love letter to Macao hits cinema

On Dec 14, the movie Promise of Decades was released simultaneously on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong and Macao.

As a tribute to the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, the film spans a 20-year period, narrating a meandering love story of two young individuals whose personal journeys intertwine with the major historical events of the era, from the return in 1999 to Macao's inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005 and the commencement of the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in 2009.

In the film, Ci plays Qiao Mingzhuang, a college student from Beijing who later realizes his dream of becoming a bridge engineer, and Laurinda Ho Chiu-lin — the daughter of late casino tycoon Stanley Ho — makes her acting debut as Sandy, the outgoing daughter of a beef offal restaurateur in Macao.

After coincidentally bumping into each other while buying the DVD of James Cameron's Hollywood blockbuster Titanic, the two develop a fondness for one another and make a pact — to get together every 10 years at the iconic Guia Lighthouse to admire the fireworks. From exchanging letters by post during their school days to experiencing a series of misunderstandings that drive them apart, the two lovers ultimately reunite at their designated spot after a tumultuous 20-year journey.

Director Tracy Choi, a Macao native born in 1988, said she was honored to participate in the project, revealing it marked her first collaboration with filmmakers and actors from the Chinese mainland.

Reflecting on her experience as an 11-year-old primary school student during the year of the handover, Choi remembered how most of her classmates were eagerly anticipating the historic event, with the school buzzing with a string of celebrations.