A film starring a Bermudian icon will be screened at the Commonwealth Games.

Welcoming Arms, featuring the late Johnny Barnes, will be shown as part of the international sports competition, which started yesterday in Australia.

Rosanne Ma, the film’s director, said she was delighted that her documentary would be shown at the Games.

Ms Ma said: “Ever since I was a child, I’ve had the utmost respect and admiration for the physical talent and mental stamina of athletes.

“So to have something I made be part of an international sport event of this calibre is absolutely thrilling.”

The film will be screened as part of Commonwealth Stories on Screen: A Short Film Programme.

Ms Ma said she was contacted last autumn by Richard Haridy, the man in charge of selection of films for the event.

She said having the film shown at the event was different from a film festival appearance.

Ms Ma explained: “The focus is not about my filmmaking, nor is it really about Johnny per se.

“Welcoming Arms will be about Bermuda as a country and a people, seen through Johnny’s spirit and goodwill.”

Mr Barnes, who died aged 93 in 2016, became a star at home and abroad after he staked a spot at the Crow Lane roundabout outside Hamilton to wave and greet passers-by every morning.

Mr Barnes was a fixture at the roundabout for about 30 years until ill health forced him to stand down at the end of 2015.

Ms Ma said the film was shot over three weeks while she and her husband were dog-sitting on the island.

The film-maker, who lives in New York, added: “The film was shot with no crew but my husband and I and on a budget of gas for the moped and cold smoothies for Johnny.”

She added: “Welcoming Arms is our love letter to Bermuda.”

The film had its world premiere at the Bermuda International Film Festival in 2015, and was later screened at the Bahamas International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Fest, and the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

For more information on Commonwealth Stories on Screen: A Short Film Program visit https://www.gc2018.com/event/commonwealth-stories-screen