China’s first feature shot in orbit, “Shenzhou 13”, will premiere nationwide on September 5. Much of the film’s imagery was captured aboard the Chinese space station by Shenzhou-13 astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, who doubled as on-orbit cameramen.

Based on the crew’s six-month mission, the movie pairs sweeping orbital vistas with candid slices of daily life in microgravity — often seen through astronaut Wang Yaping’s viewpoint — offering a quietly human take on space living.

Technically, the crew and film team used a domestically made 8K, 50-fps, full-frame setup adapted for zero-G. They worked closely with aerospace engineers to clear rocket-vibration, space-environment and on-station power/charging challenges.

The director calls the project a practical blend of “thought, art and technology,” a collaboration made possible by recent strides in China’s crewed space programme.