The “Nanking Massacre,” the 1937 Japanese ravaging of the eastern Chinese city known as Nanjing has been a point of dispute between the Japanese and Chinese governments for decades. It is generally believed that the Japanese army brutally killed around 150,000 civilians and raped thousands of women there. The Chinese are still looking for an apology which Japan says has already been given.

In perhaps a renewed effort to bring attention to this atrocity, the Chinese government has backed a new film, “City of Life and Death,” which chronicles the disputed event, and in light of weekend box office numbers it appears to be working.

The film earned a strong $10 million in its opening week its director Lu Chuan told the Associated Press Monday.

Due to the sensitive nature of the film’s material it took a reported five months to receive government backing and approval and another five months to get past Chinese censors, but now has the firm support of The Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department.