Serious fun

Qingchun de Muyang directed by a high school student.

"I was very happy with the decision (of the awards), as it reflected the variety in Chinese filmmaking," he says, adding that for someone like him, with little knowledge of Chinese language, he still got a sense from the scripts.

"I can see the potential in China's film and documentary industries. Some of the movies helped me to learn more about China," says Laakso.

Wang Jiyan, the jury president and executive director of Phoenix TV, a Hong Kong-based broadcaster, echoes the view.

He praises the diversity of the themes the films cover, ranging from the attacks on Chongqing by the invading Japanese troops to the aging problem in modern China.

Wang says that four of China's top academic institutes－Tsinghua University, Peking University, Renmin University of China and Beijing Normal University－should have also featured in the awards list.

Highlights of Vision Youth Awards 2017 included screening on campuses and a section celebrating 20 years of Hong Kong's return to China. Up to 113 Chinese colleges simultaneously screened all winning films and a few of the nominees over June 5-8.

Ten students of the Communication University of China teamed up with students from Hong Kong to produce the short film Hong Kong in the Eyes of College Students, interviewing celebrities such as Kenneth Fok, one of the city's top entrepreneurs.