Veteran filmmaker Huang Jianxin (left) alongside Taiwan critic Peggy Chiao Hsiung-ping (right）to present the award to The Winter is Coming's director Qu Zhixin. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Winter is Coming, based on a true story about the Nanjing Massacre of 1937, has become one of the five winners of 2018 Best Young Directors' Projects, an annual honor that recognizes emerging talent.

The awards are presented by the Wu Tianming Film Fund, which is named after the eponymous cinematic master.

Considered as a pioneer who shaped China's "fifth-generation directors," who include Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, Wu Tianming died at the age of 74 in Beijing in 2014.

Co-established by Wu's daughter and the China Film Foundation in 2014, the fund has so far selected 16 young filmmakers shortlisted from hundreds of candidates, and financially supported them to attend workshops at the Cannes Film Festival and helping them to reach more than 100 financers during the past four years.

This year's competition attracted around 300 entrants who were whittled down by 10 jurors to the final's 15 nominees — from whom the eventual five winners were selected.