Chinese mainland actress Gao Yuanyuan attends the opening ceremony of a film festival in a suburb of Beijing on Aug. 18, 2007.

Chinese mainland actress Gao Yuanyuan, who had the leading role in the Jury Prize winning film "Shanghai Dreams" at the 58th Cannes Film Festival, will star in "Nanking! Nanking!", a tribute film to the 70th anniversary of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.

The news was released on Saturday when Gao Yuanyuan attended the opening ceremony of a film festival in a suburb of Beijing, according to Jinghua Times.

She will play a common woman with strong willpower, the actress was quoted as saying.

"The biggest challenge for me is how to act as a woman in wartime, since I don't have any relative experiences," she said.

The film will be directed by "Kekexili" director Lu Chuan.

The Nanjing Massacre occurred on December 1937 when Japanese troops, occupying the eastern Chinese city, killed over 300,000 citizens.
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(CRI.cn August 19, 2007)