WELLINGTON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese war epic "The Eight Hundred" won applause from New Zealand moviegoers on Saturday. Professionals believed that the two countries have great potential for cooperation in film industry.

"The cinematography and visual effects were incredible real, " said Linda Zhang, Co Chair of New Zealand Chinese Culture & Arts Association, who came here from China's central Hubei province over 20 years ago.

"The dialect of Hubei, Sichuan, Guangzhou and Shanghai in the film replaced the traditional Mandarin, which made people feel friendly, especially the Hubei guys who stayed overseas like me."

Chris Payne, Head of International Relations of New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), New Zealand's national film agency, acknowledged the film as "amazing" after he saw it. "China and New Zealand film relationship is growing every kind of years. There is a lot of more cooperation that is happening."

John Minford, a British sinologist and literary translator, primarily known for his translation of Chinese classics such as The Story of the Stone, The Art of War, and the Tao Te Ching, said this film is a successful collaboration between China and New Zealand.

"We have a very lovely New Zealand actress who's taking part in this in this film", he said, "A creative collaboration between people in New Zealand and people in China is so important, it must go on."

New Zealand Actress Augusta Xu-Holland, who stared in the "The Eight Hundred", noted that the film has shown the potential for an exchange of talent between countries.

"New Zealand is the southern hub of wider Asia-Pacific, also with great creative talent. I'm under the impression that New Zealand is very supportive of the film industry as a whole and New Zealand has a lot of technical skills to offer."

"I'm seeing many collaborations popping up such as Weta and Pukeko Pictures completing a pilot project with Shambala Hengxin supported by the Wuxi Government on Louis Cha's Legends of the Condor Heroes. I think it's very exciting," she added.

Shot entirely with IMAX cameras, "The Eight Hundred" is the first major Chinese film to land in New Zealand since the COVID-19 outbreak. The film is currently screening in New Zealand 's main cities including Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch.

Directed by Guan Hu, "The Eight Hundred" depicts Chinese soldiers' defense of a warehouse against the invading Japanese army during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937.

Overseas, it was released in North America, Australia, and New Zealand on Aug. 27, a week after its formal release in China. Enditem

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