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December 6th Beijing: China Heavyweight, a Sino-Canadian co-produced feature documentary film, announced today that its official China release date will be December 20th. The film will premiere in Chengdu on December 7th followed by sneak peak screenings in thirteen cities before the official release.
China Heavyweight tells the story of Qi Moxiang, a master trainer and former Asian champion who recruits poor teenagers from rural areas in China and transforms them into boxing champions. The film also acts as an allegory presenting a common choice people face in the new China: should they fight for the collective good or for individual prosperity?
Photo:Screening at Beijing Film Academy. Provided by Han Yi.
Prior to the film’s nationwide release, Chang, joined by Coach Qi and China producer Han Yi, pre-screened the film in 13 cities spanning Chengdu, Guangzhou and Beijing. All 13 pre-screenings sold out, drawing a full house of emotionally engaged viewers.
Chang said: “Promoting China Heavyweight in 13 cities in advance of our December 20th wide-release was an unforgettable experience. Audiences were emotionally moved by the narrative story and were excited to see a film that evoked feelings about their own lives. Sharing this film with audiences proved to me that there is an audience in China for documentary films to be seen on the big screen and that there is a growing demand for this kind of content.”
Coach Qi, who took a leave from his boxing school to join the tour, said: “I am actually a bit surprised that so many people showed up at our screenings. I am deeply moved by their support. This experience will keep me going.”
Qi added: “Boxing has taught me three things about life: face the reality, learn from failure, and never give up.”
Han Yi, China producer, said: “We are not trying to compete with other commercial films during the year-end holiday season. We simply would like to offer one more choice to moviegoers. We believe they deserve a more enriched, diversified movie experience.”
During the pre-screening period, China Heavyweight quickly generated an impressive amount of positive word-of-mouth on Chinese social media, where it was voted as “one of the eight most expected films at year-end 2013”. The film has also generated over 225 third-party reviews on Douban.com. VICE China called it “a film that nobody should miss.”
Aiming to continue its on-going momentum, the China Heavyweight crew hopes the film’s nationwide release will open a new chapter of documentary film in China.
China Heavyweight is also the last film the late Peter Wintonick helped to produce, and its status and success represent the culmination of a series of films and efforts which have pioneered the rise of documentary cinema in China and Canada-China collaboration in this regard.
Please see screening information here: http://site.douban.com/211516/
Press inquiry: olivia.fang@ogilvy.com
