While watching the Iranian movie Children of Heaven, Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo and his wife were moved to "holding hands and crying after seeing the love shared by the children". Children of Heaven inspired Neo to explore issues faced by Singaporean youths in his 2002 film I Not Stupid. Following the success of I Not Stupid, he decided to adapt Children of Heaven to a 1960s Singaporean kampung setting, to emphasise the messages of friendship and kinship.

On 12 September 2003, Malaysian censors announced their decision to ban the screening of Homerun in Malaysia, citing scenes which "are easily interpreted by some Malaysian audiences' [sic] as containing political elements related to current issues". Raintree filed an appeal, arguing that the positive messages in the film were more salient than the political satire, but it was unsuccessful. Malaysian moviegoers polled by Life! and the China Press expressed disappointment with the ban, calling it "unnecessary" and stated a desire to watch the film via pirated VCD.

The movie won several awards, including the Grand Prix Prize at the 2003 Golden Swan Awards, the Golden Butterfly Prize for Best Direction at the Isfahan International Children's Film Festival, and a trio (Best Director, Best Newcomer, and People's Choice Award) at the Montreal Film Festival. It also received two nominations at the 2003 Golden Horse Awards, for Best Theme Song (拥有) and Best New Performer. Megan Zheng, then 10 years old, became the first Singaporean to win a Golden Horse Award, sharing her Best New Performer award with Wang Baoqiang of Blind Shaft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homerun_(film)
http://web.archive.org/web/20060719022158/...g/eng/index.asp

Review 

From the director I Not Stupid comes this winning tale of two siblings and their hard-knock life in 1960s Singapore. Although perhaps heavy-handed in terms of its politically commentary, the film never fails to charm its audience thanks to superb performances from its child actors. Newcomer Megan Zheng shines in a role that earned her a Golden Horse Award. http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/homerun.htm