Journalism Movie Hailed as ‘Courageous Start’ Wins Over Audiences

The Chinese movie is among the latest releases tackling real-life subjects, breaking away from fantasy and romance genres.

A new Chinese movie about one reporter’s tireless efforts to expose discriminatory practices against people living with hepatitis has won praise from audiences, a nod to the growing appetite among viewers for realistic content.

“The Best Is Yet to Come” features a young journalist vying to report on the prejudices faced by those living with hepatitis B virus, which causes inflammation of the liver. While the movie was theatrically released Friday, it has already won several awards after being screened at international film festivals since 2020.

The two-hour movie is loosely based on the real-life story of Han Fudong, a reputed journalist who wrote about the plight of those living with hepatitis B after reporting on China’s first lawsuit against such discrimination in 2003. At that time, over 100 million people were living with hepatitis B and were denied from enrolling at schools and the workplace.

Han’s reporting eventually led to a significant regulatory change in 2007, when the central government authorities introduced a ban on related unfair practices, following the cancelation of a testing requirement for civil service candidates two years earlier. In “The Best Is Yet to Come,” actor Zhang Songwen, known for his role in hit crime drama “The Knockout,” plays the role of Han’s mentor. Continue to read the full article here

– This article originally appeared on Sixth Tone