One of China’s most anticipated Lunar New Year holiday films features a renowned director, a cast of stars and an unusual creative consultant: the country’s top counter-espionage agency.
Scare Out, which will debut in cinemas in mainland China on February 17, is the first film directly supervised by the Ministry of State Security. The ministry said it provided technical guidance for the film and that the script was based on real cases.
Directed by the multi-award-winning Zhang Yimou, the film focuses on modern espionage in China, depicting an investigation into leaked secrets about a new fighter jet. The Chinese government rarely discloses or confirms such leaks, but the film might reveal details of little-known espionage cases.
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On January 29, the film’s distributor released a promotional video titled Spies Among Us. In the video, Zhang said Scare Out recreated modern espionage scenarios and incorporated technical elements.
“This is the first time I’ve worked on this kind of subject matter under the guidance of the [ministry]. We filmed it very realistically, and the national security personnel gave us a lot of technical guidance,” Zhang said.
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The promotional video features behind-the-scenes footage in which a national security officer instructs actors on how to track a target. The officer’s image is blurred with a mosaic effect to protect their identity.
