A poster of the film "Tiananmen"

Senior director Ye Daying has realized his 12-year dream to shoot a film about China's most famous public structure and its role in the birth of a republic.

Tiananmen will premiere this Thursday and reveals how a group of soldiers decorated the Tiananmen Rostrum before the founding day of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Ye had the idea of shooting the film in 1997, when he found an old photo of Tiananmen tower before 1949.

The film is based on a true story. Only one month before the ceremony to announce the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Tiananmen Rostrum was still part of a weathered building constructed more than 500 years ago.

Zhou Enlai had 20 decoration drafts to choose from but selected a design by some stage designers in the army. A group of soldiers decorated the tower in 28 days.

On Oct 1, 1949, Mao Zedong and other country leaders announced the founding of a new country on this rostrum.

The film was shot in Hengdian in Zhejiang province, and features a replica of the Tiananmen Rostrum.

(China Daily September 1, 2009)