As the new Chinese film Once Upon a Time in the Middle East rolls out its nationwide advanced screening event in China from August 8 to 10 – with daily showings running between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. at selected cinemas – food enthusiasts and filmgoers alike are abuzz over one of its most striking creative highlights: the audacious, inspired fusion of time-honored Middle Eastern grilled fish and China's iconic northeastern iron pot stew.

Helmed by Wen Muye, the director who garnered widespread acclaim for his landmark social drama Dying to Survive, the film centers on Xu Fu, a down-on-his-luck Chinese chef portrayed by celebrated comedian Shen Teng, who travels to the Middle East to settle his debts. There, he joins forces with a local restaurant manager to operate a bustling restaurant, bringing authentic Chinese culinary traditions to a war-torn foreign land.

The newly unveiled poster, titled "Dishes Are Ready – Please Savor," unfolds like a kitchen shelf rack that draws viewers straight into the restaurant's bustling daily prep scene. The frame anchors itself on raw ingredients and kitchen utensils, merging the familiar, steamy warmth of a traditional Chinese eatery with the rich, vivid hues of Middle Eastern market culture.

The film's imaginative signature fusion dish – spice-kissed Middle Eastern grilled fish, slow-simmered in a heavy cast-iron northeastern stew pot alongside classic Chinese vegetables, chewy glass noodles and deeply savory broth – delivers far more than unexpected, layered flavor pairings, but also strikingly surreal, eye-catching visuals.

Once Upon a Time in the Middle East officially premieres across China on August 11.