'Twenty Two' a box office hit against all odds

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Box office revenue for "Twenty Two", a documentary about Chinese women forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers during World War Two, exceeded 10 million yuan (1.5 million US dollars) on its first day, and 100 million yuan within one week, making it one of the most successful documentaries ever released in China.

According to China Film News, as of August 27, the film had raked in over 160 million yuan and ranked seventh in last week's box office earnings.

It scored 8.9 out of 10 points on Douban, a popular Chinese movie rating platform, higher than 80 percent of its peers in the documentary film category.

A still image from "Twenty Two" by Chinese filmmaker Guo Ke. /CGTN Photo

When Chinese director Guo Ke made his first short documentary about "comfort women" in 2012, he named it "Thirty Two," the number of known survivors on the Chinese mainland. When he started the follow-up documentary on the same issue two years later, that number had dropped to 22, which became the name of the second documentary, released on August 14 this year.

Guo attributed the unexpected success of his documentary to the audience finally paying attention to the history and traumatic experiences of these women.

The director said he is pleased the documentary has received so much public attention, expressing hope that the younger generation will have a greater understanding of the history and experiences of "comfort women".

The movie poster and a screen shot from "Twenty Two". /CGTN Photo

The movie had not been expected to be a box office success, and few people believed the documentary could make money.

During cash shortage, Guo said he even considered selling his house to finance the production. At that crucial stage, actress Zhang Xinyi donated one million yuan to the film, and the rest of the money needed was raised through a crowd-funding program.

Zhang said she did not expect any return from her investment and was impressed by the powerful "strength of society" revealed by the film's box office performance. She said the film was a "touchstone" that aroused many people's conscience.

The filmmaker Guo Ke (R) and one of the survivors (L) /Weibo Photo

According to Taopiaopiao, a popular movie ticket-selling website under Alibaba Group, about 19.1 percent of the film's audiences were people under the age of 19.

The most significant impact of the documentary is its ability to remind the younger generation of what has happened in this country, one of the spectators wrote on Taopiaopiao.

When "Twenty Two" debuted last month, the number of known Chinese survivors had slipped to no more than 20.

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