Lofty Sky Pictures is gearing up for the U.S. theatrical release of the animated documentary Eternal Spring, and ahead of the premiere, we can first debut an exclusive clip. Having debuted in Canadian theaters last month, Eternal Spring has since begun its week-long exclusive showings in New York's Film Forum starting on Oct. 14, though it will be expanding nationwide to more than 50 markets on Oct. 21, 2022. The film features an animated recreation of the night Chinese activists hack into state television, and our sneak peek clip, shown below, touches on what led up to the hijacking and teases the first steps of the bold and perilous plan.

Jason Loftus wrote, directed, and produced Eternal Spring. Masha Loftus and The Pearman Brothers also served as additional writers while fellow producers included Yvan Pinard and Kevin Koo. Masha Loftus executive produced. The cast includes Daxiong, Jin Xuezhe ("Mr. White"), Lan Lihua ("Xiao Lan"), Wang Jianmin, Zhang Zhongyu, Wang Liansu, and Wang Huilian. The animation cast features Daxiong (Himself), Henry Guo, Shi Jian, Ben Li, Yu Feng, Tan Junfeng, Yu Zhicheng, Tony Bai, Zhang Yuhuan, and Xiao Yanrong.

The official synopsis for the film is as follows:

In March 2002, a state TV signal in China is hijacked by members of banned spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal is to counter the government narrative about their practice. In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars), a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening a violent repression. But his views are challenged when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, now living in Seoul, South Korea. Combining present-day footage with 3D animation inspired by Daxiong’s art, Eternal Spring retraces the event on its 20th anniversary, and brings to life an unprecedented story of defiance, harrowing eyewitness accounts of persecution, and an exhilarating tale of determination to speak up for political and religious freedoms, no matter the cost.

Related: Exclusive: Jo Koy and Jay Chandrasekhar Talk Making Easter Sunday in BTS Clip

Eternal Spring Explores Themes That Are "Crucial" To Examine, Jason Loftus Says

Eternal Spring
Lofty Sky Pictures

"Eternal Spring explores religious persecution at a time when similar abuses continue against millions of Uighur Muslims in northwest China," filmmaker Jason Loftus says of the movie's themes. "It is also a story about media censorship, misinformation, the need for transparency, and freedom of speech. These themes are crucial in the wake of controversies around transparency in the reporting of important public health information at the onset of what’s now a global pandemic."

He added, "After the rise of anti-Asian hate related to the spread of Covid-19, this film also presents a needed narrative featuring courageous Chinese protagonists. It demonstrates that the Chinese regime does not by default represent Chinese people, and reminds us there are remarkable Chinese individuals struggling for human rights, transparency, freedom, and justice. Creatively, Eternal Spring presented an opportunity to use animation in documentary filmmaking not only as a device for recreation, but as a means to explore the inner journey of an artist who endured torture and for whom the process of creating these images offered catharsis."

The director goes on to describe how Eternal Spring offers a "unique combination of dramatic heist story, an ongoing and important human rights concern, and an artist’s personal journey in bringing these stories to life and facing his own recollections of loss and suffering in the process."

You can find out more about the movie at EternalSpringFilm.com.