Chinese wartime movie on the Nanjing Massacre made its Los Angeles premiere on Monday, unveiling to North American audiences one of the darkest chapters of World War II that was rarely portrayed on Western screens.
The movie Dead to Rights tells a gripping story of survival and resistance during the Nanjing Massacre, a catastrophic war crime committed by Japanese invaders in 1937 that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians and prisoners of war.
The premiere, co-hosted by CGTN America in Los Angeles, brought together filmmakers, cultural figures, and historians, all hoping it would spark reflection and dialogue.
"My hope is the education, the discussion that is going to come out of this is going to help people see the atrocities, no matter how difficult it is going to be to watch this, and then take this and share it. I guess the goal is never again," said CGTN Presenter Sean Callebs during the premiere.
The event also drew guests from the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles.
"After watching the movie, I came out actually with a heavy heart. So many Chinese people lost their lives. It cost so much for them, for the Chinese people, to fight for peace, justice and freedom," said Huang Hongjiang, Acting Consul General at the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Historians say the Nanjing Massacre remains one of the least understood events of the Second World War outside Asia, despite its enormous human toll. The North American release of Dead to Rights offers a rare chance to bring this part of history into mainstream conversation.
"It's a powerful film. It's beautifully made, and it's devastating emotionally to watch because we put a human face on a global tragedy. And I think we need more films like that today, as much of the world is dealing with autocratic threats, genocide, so forth. We need stories of how you survive, how you resist, how you maintain your soul in the face of trauma," said Professor Henry Jenkins, Media Professor and China Specialist at the University of Southern California.
Not only scholars, the movie has impressed all audiences, with many of them learned about the history of Nanjing in such detail for the first time.
"It's over 300 thousand people [who were killed in the Nanjing Massacre], right? We don't even know if that's just it. It could be way more than that. But every single number has a name, and every single name has some story behind it. So just being able to watch the story, it was really, really powerful. Really powerful," said Sandro Gohoho, Distribution Executive of a film company.
According to Niu Vision Media, the film's distributor, there will be more than 20,000 screenings in nearly 250 theaters across North America after its official release on August 15, which is the second-biggest summer release for a Chinese production in the region, right after the record-breaker NeZha 2.
Nanjing Massacre film "Dead To Rights" premieres in Los Angeles
