China has chosen Shen AO’s “Dead to Rights” as a submission for the best category of international feature films to the 98th Academy Awards.
Written by Shen ao, Zhang Ke and Xu Luyang, and taking place in the backdrop of the Nanjing massacre of 1937 and drawing documented historical events, “Dead to Rights” follows a Chang (Liu Haran of a developer of “detective chinatown”), a postman who assumes the identity of a photo developer to survive the Japanese occupation. Operating inside the walls of a studio controlled by the Japanese, it secretly houses Chinese soldiers and civilians in an act of quiet resistance.
The film is produced by Furuo Qing of the renowned of the franchise “The Wandering Earth”. Niu Vision Media and Echelon Studios released the film in North America in August.
“Dead to Rights” opened its doors in China on July 25 and reported more than 3 billion RMB ($ 415 million). He led the local box office for 16 consecutive days during the summer.
China has not yet won the International Oscar feature film. The country has marked two appointments in the category to date, with “Ju dou” by Zhang Yimou (1991) and “Hero” (2003). Hong Kong, which submits separately, has won three nominations: “Ruge the Red Lantern” by Zhang Yimou (1992), “Farewell My Concubine” by Chen Kaige (1994) and “Better Days” by Derek Tsang (2021).
Last year, China submitted the documentary of Fang Li “The sinking of the Lisbon Maru”, which was disqualified by the Academy so as not to meet the linguistic requirements.
The list of international Oscars will be announced on December 16 and the last five nominees will be announced on January 22.
