"The Pioneer" focusing on, and paying tribute to the revolutionary pioneer Li Dazhao, is an innovative creation in China's traditional revolutionary mainstream movie genre and is set to inspire today's young people, the film's producers said. 

The film, directed by Xu Zhanxiong and produced by Guan Hu, portrays one of the founders of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Covering the period from 1912 to 1927, the film tells the revolutionary stories of Li's short life, and will lead audiences on a journey to revisit how he sought to change China and save the nation. 

Executive producer Guan, a renowned filmmaker whose works include the blockbuster "The Eight Hundred", said at the Beijing premiere that "The Pioneer" adopts a very unusual, experimental, nonlinear, multidimensional and multi-perspective approach, rather than traditional biopic filmmaking. 

His wife, the general producer of the film Liang Jing, added, "the film not only is a tribute to revolutionary youth a hundred years ago, but also tries to inspire current youth. We need to make breakthrough against traditional narratives, creating a new film language to communicate with young people."

Li Dazhao was among the early trailblazers to spread Marxism and Communism in China. He is considered a pioneer of China's Communist movement, a great Marxist and an outstanding proletarian revolutionary who was executed by warlord Zhang Zuolin in 1927. Director Xu added more details to the character, and introduced powerful narratives into significant moments to demonstrate why this pioneer had so much influence. 

He revealed: "Filming the historical figure that everyone is familiar with, is challenging but also has much room for freshness. For example, you may not know Mr. Li could play the piano and you might think this is a fictional plot. But it was true he did have a piano at home to play, according to our research."

To make this film, Xu and crew went to Li's hometown in Laoting county, part of Tangshan in Hebei province, to dig deep into historic documents. There was also repeated consultancy with China's research society on Li Dazhao. 

However, it was the actor Zhang Songwen contributing a powerful and convincing performance that brought vivid life to the character. "I love the script which is very down to earth to show how great Mr. Li was as a human, rather than vaguely talking about philosophies. I can never be as great as Mr. Li Dazhao, but I have a little resolve to interact with a tip of iceberg of the pioneer's great soul," Zhang said. 

He co-starred in the film with several popular Chinese actors from Li Yifeng and Tong Liya to Peng Yuchang.

There are also many stunningly beautiful film scenes like an oil-painting, especially seen on IMAX giant screens, that awed and resonated with the tearful audience. The uniqueness of the film made editing director Yang Hongyu declare that, "Editing this film is quite satisfying. It's more like a pure poetry, rather than a film narrative."

Guan Hu added: "We did mobilize production approaches and resources like we are doing six to eight films, but we did this for only one film 'The Pioneer'. Without a common belief among the cast and crew, this film can't make it. This is the power of belief".

"The Pioneer" is being screened around China from July 1.

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