[Photo provided to China Daily]

Despite the storyline, Dong is not satisfied with merely making a crime thriller.

The American magazine, Hollywood Reporter, says that "China's competition entry (referring to The Looming Storm) at this year's Tokyo Film Festival is a think piece, thinly disguised as a murder mystery."

The movie doesn't focus on solving the puzzle to reveal who the killer is, as numerous genre whodunits do. Instead, it centers on exploring the humanity of those who were involved as well as a look at the era that the movie is set in.

"I was a college student in 1997 in Beijing. My uncle worked at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences back then. He told me about some of the huge changes happening then and how they influenced ordinary people. I was interested in depicting that era in my movie," Dong says.

The film was shot in Hengyang, Hunan province, as the city has a lot of structures built in the 1990s.

Besides Duan, the cast features actress Jiang Yiyan, known for her arthouse dramas, and actors Du Yuan and Zheng Wei.

Speaking about the domestic movie industry's demanding environment for young talent, Dong says moviemaking is a time-consuming job.

"I know many newcomers give up. You have to love it (cinema). A serious movie project needs at least three years," says Dong.