Dying to Survive

An enterprising businessman takes on Big Pharma to provide cancer patients with expensive, life-extending medicine in this socially conscious drug-smuggling drama, which is based on a touching and astonishing true story, and earned more than $450 million at the Chinese box office.

Receiving three Golden Horse Awards, including best new director for filmmaker Wen Muye, Dying to Survive isn’t just an impassioned exploration of the injustice of putting profits before lives. It’s also credited with changing China’s healthcare policy, including the cost of pivotal treatments for chronic myeloid leukaemia sufferers.

Xu Zheng (Ash Is Purest White, MIFF 2018) plays Cheng Yong, who agrees to import the crucial drug in an effort to boost his finances for his custody fight over his young son, and to assist his ailing, elderly father. When a dancer introduces him to a network of people in need, Cheng becomes a Robin Hood-esque figure, in a film that segues from hearty comedy to poignant drama with consummate skill.

“This Chinese cousin of Dallas Buyers Club is laced with caustic humour, although not at the expense of its fundamental sincerity … a rousing piece of torn-from-the-headlines storytelling that delivers laughs and tears in equal measure.” – Screen Daily