Box Office Sensation Feng\'s 1942 Famine Film to Hit Screens in December

By Famous director Feng Xiaogang\'s highly-expected disaster film Remembering 1942  will hit cinema screens across China in December, producers announced yesterday at the ongoing 15th Shanghai International Film Festival.
Director Feng is considered a box office guarantee. Most of his productions have proved to be box office sensations, from his earlier light-hearted fares to blockbuster films such as Aftershock and The Assembly.

"Making this film has been a long-time dream of mine," Feng said yesterday. "We\'re trying to depict the true emotions and attitudes of people when they are facing disaster and death. Each of our actors had to put up with hunger, thirst and the difficult conditions of shooting in remote villages. It has been one of the toughest but most rewarding experiences in my filmmaking career."

The film features a star-studded cast, including Zhang Guoli, Chen Daoming and Xu Fan. It also stars Oscar-winning U.S. actors Tim Robbins and Adrien Brody, both of whom were deeply touched by the script.

Robbins plays the role of a priest while Brody acts as a journalist. In the eyes of Robbins, the film displays both the brightest and darkest sides of humanity.

Xu Fan, who plays a famine victim in the movie, said that she ate very little during the filming just to experience the feeling of hunger. "When people are extremely hungry, they actually have no dignity to lose," Xu said. "As a mother in the film, I do everything I can to save the lives of my starving children."