The audiences watch a film at a cinema in Shanghai on November 12, 2021. Top: A man walks past a poster for movie The Battle at Lake Changjin in a cinema in Shanghai on October 10, 2021. Photos: VCG

Chinese war film The Battle at Lake Changjin, about China's historic military victory in a battle during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), bagged the Best Film Award at the 36th Hundred Flowers Awards held in Wuhan on Saturday.

The ceremony for the 2022 Hundred Flowers Awards was held in Wuhan, a city with a deep connection to Chinese film as several works talks about stories happening in the city. During the ceremony, the 101 members of the audience voted to decide the winners of the nine awards up for grabs, with The Battle at Lake Changjin bagging the top award, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency.

The Best Actor Award was given to Zhang Yi for his role in the Chinese historical spy thriller directed by Zhang Yimou, Cliff Walkers, while Yuan Quan won Best Actress with her performance in Chinese Doctors, which focuses on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan in 2020.

Set during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, The Battle at Lake Changjin depicts the Chinese People's Volunteers' courageous fight during a key campaign at Lake Changjin, amid harsh freezing conditions.

The movie focuses on the young soldiers in the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, including the characters Wu Qianli and Wu Wanli from the novel upon which the movie is based, and the strong spirit they showed while defending the country.

Film critics were not surprised that the film won the award because of its quality, great reviews and performance at the box office. 

Released on September 30, 2021, the film went on to earn more than 5.8 billion yuan ($859 million) at the Chinese mainland box office, making it the highest-earning film in China.

Luo Luo, a Beijing-based film critic, told the Global Times that visual works such as this can popularize the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and allow audiences to grow closer to those warriors as most young Chinese today have only read about their stories in books. 

"We should salute the great spirit of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. It is an honor to present these moving stories about the people of that time," Wu Jing, the lead actor of the film, said at the ceremony according to hxnews.com.

Established in 1962, the Hundred Flowers Awards celebrates its 60th anniversaryin 2022. To celebrate this milestone, the awards ceremony also held a review of the past 60 years of Chinese films.