A scene from  Great Cold. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Director Zhang Yueping, who has been familiar with Zhang Shuangbing's work for more than 10 years, says the crew approached the movie with a sense of duty and responsibility, rather than consider it a commercial production.

With China's cinema screens long dominated by blockbuster action movies and comedies, many scholars at the Peking University event voiced concern that such a serious work might struggle to earn enough screenings to reach its intended wider audience.

During the event, Jia Leilei, former vice-president of the Chinese National Academy of Arts, made an appeal to cinema managers to arrange more screenings for Great Cold.

Rao Shuguang, secretary-general of the China Film Association, echoes the sentiment that the low-budget movie deserves much wider attention. "It authentically re-creates history and respects the past. I hope more youngsters will watch the movie," he adds.