City of Life and Death is a shocking true story set in 1937 during the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The Imperial Japanese Army has just captured the then-capital of the Republic of China, Nanking.
What followed was known as the Nanking Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, a period of several weeks wherein tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed.
The film tells the story of several figures, both historical and fictional, including a Chinese soldier, a schoolteacher, a Japanese soldier, a foreign missionary, and John Rabe, a Nazi businessman who would ultimately save thousands of Chinese civilians.
The film opens in selected New Zealand cinemas this Thursday, November 26.
Watch the trailer.