Dead to Rights brings one of WWII’s darkest chapters—the 1937 Nanjing Massacre—to North America’s big screens. The film’s North American premiere, co-hosted by CGTN America in Los Angeles, brought together filmmakers, cultural figures, and historians, all hoping the story will spark reflection and dialogue.
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Dead to Rights brings one of WWII’s darkest chapters—the 1937 Nanjing Massacre—to North America’s big screens. The film’s North American premiere, co-hosted by CGTN America in Los Angeles, brought together filmmakers, cultural figures, and historians, all hoping the story will spark reflection and dialogue.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Following its release in Australia and New Zealand on August 7, the film will open in more than 250 cinemas across the United States on August 15, with over 20,000 screenings planned. International audiences in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and other countries will also have the opportunity to see it.
Huang Hongjiang, Acting Consul General at the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles, said he left the theater with a heavy heart. “So many Chinese people lost their lives. It cost them so much to fight for peace, justice, and freedom.”
Reflecting on the Japanese atrocity and the Nanjing Massacre, film industry executive Sandro Gohoho noted: “Every single number has a name, and every single name has a story behind it. Watching this story unfold was very powerful.”
For some scholars, the North American release of Dead to Rights offers a rare chance to bring this history into mainstream conversation. Henry Jenkins, media professor and China specialist at the University of Southern California, called the film “beautifully made” and “emotionally devastating to watch” for the way it puts a human face on a global tragedy. “We need stories of how you survive, how you resist, how you maintain your soul in the face of trauma,” he said.
Click here to watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4w46ypTzn8
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Xia Hui, CGTN America, 1 2023931850, [email protected]
SOURCE CGTN America
