Award-Winning Documentary of Spiritual Group’s Disruption of Chinese State-Run TV Coming to Local Theaters

Artist Daxiong in a still of the "Eternal Spring" documentary, which tells the story of a group of Chinese expatriates who brought uncensored news to China and its aftermath. (Courtesy of Lofty Sky Pictures)

A group of peaceful meditators who exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign of deception toward the spiritual practice Falun Gong are featured in a documentary that’s returning to Southern California after a summer screening.

The award-winning “Eternal Spring” is playing for one week in AMC Theatres starting Friday, Oct. 21, and if weekend attendance is high, may be extended another week.

The documentary tells the story of a small group who tapped into a state-controlled television broadcast in China to share the truth about Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, a meditation practice guided by the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

The film uses a novel combination of animation and in-person interviews to recreate the historic event and bring the story alive.

“I think that people will resonate with it, regardless of whether they have a particular interest in the Chinese human rights situation,” the filmmaker Jason Loftus told NTD Television, sister media of The Epoch Times, on Oct. 17.

Loftus said there’s something universal about stories that show people standing up in the face of adversity.

A still from the film "Eternal Spring," which tells the story of a small group of Falun Dafa practitioners who tapped into Changchun City’s state-controlled cable television to broadcast information to counter the Chinese communist regime’s propaganda against the spiritual practice. (Courtesy of Lofty Sky Pictures)

Falun Gong was introduced to the public in China in 1992, and it grew to 70 million practitioners by the late 90s, according to official estimates. In 1999, the Chinese Communist regime began an extensive persecution of the practice, fearful that the regime’s power was threatened by the group’s large following. Since then, millions have been detained, often facing torture and death, according to human rights groups.

In 2002, a group of Falun Gong adherents, who were repeatedly demonized in the Chinese media, decided to take action. They climbed a pair of television poles in the city of Changchun during primetime TV and hijacked the signal, broadcasting a message about the communist regime’s elimination campaign toward the spiritual practice.

So far, “Eternal Spring” has received 15 awards after being released on the event’s 20th anniversary in March. Because of its popularity, Canada chose the documentary as its submission to the 2023 Oscars for Best International Film.

Loftus said he and his team are humbled by the country’s decision to select the film.

“It is the first time Canada has put forward an animated film, a documentary, or a Mandarin language film for the international feature category,” he said.

Jason Loftus, director of the award-winning documentary "Eternal Spring" poses for photographs at the Southern California premiere of the film at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on June 15, 2022. (Alice Sun/The Epoch Times)

The Chinese Theatre in Hollywood screened the film back in June, and some audience members were moved to tears.

Loftus told The Epoch Times at the time that he learned about the story from his colleague Daxiong, a longtime Falun Gong practitioner and comic book artist known for his work on the “Justice League” and “Star Wars” franchises.

The documentary tells the story through Daxiong’s perspective, who leads the audience through his journey of remembering the events that took place 20 years ago.

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After the disruption of the TV broadcast, police raids ensued as the regime targeted all Falun Gong adherents in the area, regardless of their involvement in the plot. At least six died at the hands of police, according to Minghui.org, a U.S.-based website that provides information on the persecution in China.

Only one core participant in the broadcast takeover made it out of China—after 10 years in prison—while another is expected to be released this year after being locked away for 20 years.

Daxiong was targeted in the police raids that followed the event, and he was forced to flee his hometown Changchun and eventually move to Canada after being detained three times by the regime.

Eva Fu contributed to this report.