Late Chinese filmmaker Wu Tianming's last directorial work "Song of the Phoenix¹" is going to hit cinemas today.

 

中国已故电影制作人吴天明生前最后的导演作品《百鸟朝凤》将于今日在各大电影院上映。
 

 

The screening comes two years after Wu's death in 2014.

 

The film revolves² around an elderly suona, or double-reed horn performer who tries to pass on the art form despite its falling popularity in modern China.

 

Wu died of a heart attack in Beijing two years ago, just one month after he finished the film.

 

He was 74.

 

Wu was one of the most influential³ and significant figures in Chinese cinema. He also earned respect from fellow filmmakers overseas.

 

"Mr. Wu was a remarkable⁴ and courageous⁵ man. He deserves to be not only remembered, but celebrated⁶, as an artist, as a producer and a studio chief, " American director Martin Scorsese said in a video message.

 

The former head of the Xi'an Film Studio was instrumental in encouraging directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige after he took the position in 1983.

 

His studio reforms helped young filmmakers of that time to flourish and thrive.

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