Although Hu had limited knowledge about Xian's last years, he quickly started to dive into the story. And his parents were even more excited about their son's new big-screen incarnation. His father, Hu Baoshan, a singer with the People's Liberation Army arts troupe, told him that he should take the film as a great honor as Xian's music has influenced generations of Chinese.

Xirzat Yahup, who directs The Composer, had previously helmed Flower, a film recounting the legendary story of an ethnic Kazakh singer in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"But The Composer is a more challenging job. We spent two years shooting scenes taking place in different seasons across three countries: China, Kazakhstan and Russia," he says.