China has submitted the Nanjing Massacre film, “Dead to Rights” as its representative film for the 98th Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category.
The movie, helmed by Shen Ao, stars Liu Haoran as Ah Chang, a man who assumes the identity of a photo-developer within a Japanese-controlled studio who covertly hides civilians and Chinese soldiers, while duplicating photographic evidence of the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The film marks the second time that China has sent a movie with historical narrative for the said Oscars category, following last year’s “The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru”.
“Dead to Rights” was released back in July, and earned USD 417.6 million at the box office.
It is noted that China has yet to win the said category since its existence, though it has made it twice in the top five through Zhang Yimou’s “Ju Dou” and “Hero”.
