THOUSAND OAKS, CA - California Lutheran University will present a free screening of an epic historical drama from China on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at Muvico Thousand Oaks 14 as part of its International Film Series.

“Red Cliff,” a 2009 film directed by legendary action-cinema master John Woo, will be shown at 7 p.m. The breathtaking war epic was a massive hit in Asia and the most expensive Asian film production of all time.

Starring international superstar Tony Leung, “Red Cliff” is based on the 208 A.D. Battle of Red Cliffs that heralded the end of the Han dynasty. With permission from the Han dynasty emperor, the power-hungry Gen. Cao Cao organizes a southward-bound mission designed to crush the two troublesome warlords in a bid to unite all of China. Thus begins a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Vastly outnumbered by Cao Cao’s brutal army and with no other hope for survival, the warlords form an unlikely alliance to mount a heroic campaign. A series of military engagements on land and on water eventually culminates in the battle of Red Cliff, where 2,000 ships were burned and the course of Chinese history changed.

Woo was born in southern China and grew up in Hong Kong, where he began his film career. He has won 13 international film awards including the Asian Film Award for Top-Grossing Film Director in 2010 and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Director for “Face/Off” in 1998.

Leung is a Hong Kong actor who won the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award for “In the Mood for Love” in 2000. He is a nine-time winner of the Hong Kong Film Award and three-time winner of Golden Horse Film Awards.

CLU’s department of languages and cultures is sponsoring the event with a grant from the CLU Community Leaders Association. Inspired by the six-year success of the university’s French Film Festival, faculty members replaced the event with the international festival this year.

The series will continue with the German movie “The Experiment” March 5 in CLU’s Lundring Events Center and the French film “Chicken with Plums” April 30 at Muvico.

Muvico is located at 166 W. Hillcrest Drive.

For more information, contact Debby Chang at ddchang@callutheran.edu or 818-865-9772.