China sends summer hit 'Once Upon a Time in the Middle East' to the Oscars

China has entered Once Upon a Time in the Middle East for the Best International Feature Oscar, the Academy's award for films made outside the United States. Variety identified the title as China's submission in a piece published on 13 October 2026.

The film is an anti-war drama directed by Wen Muye, according to Variety. It stars Shen Teng as Xu Fu, a chef weighed down by debt. He agrees to take over a Chinese restaurant in Bahata, a fictional city in the Gulf region.

The runtime is two and a half hours. The story starts with work. Then it moves into conflict.

Xu arrives to cook and earn. Fighting soon surrounds the restaurant. He must keep the kitchen going while the city around him breaks apart.

The film was a summer hit in China. It held the No. 1 position at the mainland China box office, Yahoo reported in August 2026. That home-market run gave it a high profile before awards season.

Scale is part of the package. Variety's review describes large-scale destruction, including an entire city turned into an inferno of crumbling buildings and a military base ambushed in pyrotechnics. The camera stays close on both parts of the story.

Food gets full attention. The same review points to glossy close-ups of grilled meats and bubbling stone-pot stews. Those images sit beside stark images of war, including dead children covered in ash.

For viewers new to the category, this is how it works. Each country can put forward one film. The Academy then selects from those entries.

What makes this pick notable is history. China has not landed a nomination for Best International Feature since Zhang Yimou's Hero in 2002, according to Variety. That is a gap of more than two decades.

A nomination would end that wait. A shortlist place would come first. For now, the summer box-office winner carries China's hopes.