China’s Seventh Art Pictures is launching sales in Cannes on $80M war epic Dong Ji Island, directed by Guan Hu, who won the Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes last year for Black Dog.
The film is co-directed by Fei Zhenxiang and stars Zhu Yilong (Lighting Up The Stars), Wu Lei (Shadow, Dwelling By The West Lake) and Ni Ni (Lost In The Stars, The Flowers Of War). Zhu Yilong’s credits also incude Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows, which was selected for Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2023.
Fei has worked as Guan Hu’s assistant director since Mr Six and also directed some of the most popular Chinese TV series in recent years, including Love Like The Galaxy (2022).
Based on real events during the Second World War, Dong Ji Island follows the tragic tale of a Japanese warship secretly transporting British prisoners of war and mistakenly attacked near the easternmost waters of China. A group of courageous islanders set out on a perilous journey to rescue the trapped prisoners from the sinking ship, facing the wrath of Japanese soldiers and the sea.
The film’s producer, Liang Jing, was an acclaimed actress before becoming a producer and chair of The Seventh Art Pictures. She has produced most of Guan Hu’s works, including The Eight Hundred which was released as China’s cinemas were reopened after the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 and became the highest-grossing live-action film in the world that year.
A 17-min promo of the film will be screened in the Palais at the Marche du Film on May 14. The film is co-presented by Shanghai Tao Piao Piao Movie & TV Culture Co and Nezha 2 producers Beijing Enlight Pictures. China release is being lined up for later this year.
Guan Hu is repped by UTA.
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