Chinese film 'Once in the Middle East' earns $148 million at the box office

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A Chinese-produced film, "Once in the Middle East" (Bir Zamanlar Ortadoğu'da), has grossed approximately $148 million since its release across China on August 11, according to the Shanghai-based City News Service. Directed by Wei Mou and starring Xin Teng, the film follows Xu Fu, a chef who travels to Baghdad to open a Chinese restaurant to pay off his debts and ends up trying to help local children during the war. The film has prompted Chinese viewers to search for the real-life inspiration behind the character. On social media, users linked the story to Chen Xianchong, a restaurant owner from Jilin province in northeastern China who first arrived in Iraq in 1984 as a translator. After 2003, he turned his Baghdad restaurant into a shelter for foreign journalists, local doctors and displaced children. According to reports, Chen helped mediate the release of seven Chinese workers who were kidnapped in 2004 and was himself abducted in 2005. He was later detained on suspicion of assisting U.S.-linked operations.