{
  "id": 14670516,
  "title": "China’s Iraq War ‘safe haven’ restaurant film of real people to represent country at Oscars",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/chinas-iraq-war-safe-haven-restaurant-film-of-real-people-to",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-15T10:00:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3371020/chinas-iraq-war-safe-haven-restaurant-film-real-people-represent-country-oscars"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "A mainland-produced film about a Chinese restaurant in Baghdad that became a wartime refuge has been selected as China’s entry for next year’s Oscars, bringing global attention to untold stories from the Iraq War. Directed by Wen Muye and starring Shen Teng and Jiang Qiming, Once Upon a Time in the Middle East became a box-office hit after its domestic release in China in August, earning more…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}