The Founding of a Republic is a 2009 Chinese historical film commissioned by China's film regulator and made by the state-owned China Film Group to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The film was co-directed by the fifth-generation director Huang Jianxin and the chairman of China Film Group Han Sanping. Han's role in the Chinese film circle legitimizes of the significance of The Founding as a mainstream film blockbuster The timing of the production and release of The Founding was a cultural signifier of the emergence of China in the Global arena. The film has a propaganda utility, and is responsible for enhancing cohesion among Chinese citizens. A group of seemingly ‘haphazard’ and ‘coincidental’ elements and features of the film exhibit the timely and mindful updates of the propaganda devices by the CCP government in order to catch up with the overriding fashion of commercialization in the cultural-media sphere of present-day China. The film premiered at 2 pm, September 16, 2009, in mainland China. The film was produced with the backing of the Communist Party, but in response to some reactions outside Mainland China, Huang Jianxin, the film's co-director, "has said it was unfair to describe The Founding of a Republic as propaganda since modern Chinese audience was too sophisticated to swallow a simplistic rendering of history." While the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan has asserted that it has no plans to actively censor the film, it has yet to be released because Taiwan's 2009 annual quota of 10 mainland films was already reached. The film retells the tale of the Communist ascendancy and triumph, and has a star-studded cast including Andy Lau, Ge You, Hu Jun, Leon Lai, Zhang Ziyi, Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Zhao Wei, and directors Jiang Wen, Chen Kaige and John Woo, many of whom make brief cameo appearances. The leading roles are played by actors equally renowned in China, such as Tang Guoqiang and Zhang Guoli. A CFG spokesman said many stars answered Han Sanping's call to appear in the film and waived their fee. Thus, the movie kept to its modest budget of 60-70 million yuan. According to the executive at one of China's top multiplex chains, the film unusually marries "the core of an 'ethically inspiring' film with commercial packaging."This is the first zhuxuanlu film to work solely with cinematic audio-visual methods to achieve its political and ideological goals. It is a milestone in that since its production in 2009, the distinction between zhuxuanlu and commercial film has become blurred; they have become largely indistinguishable from each other.
