Brothers, a Chinese 3D war film that took five years to finish, had its first press conference Friday afternoon in Beijing. Announcing a national theater release set for August 14, director A Gan and lead actors Peter Ho and Li Dongxue shared many of the behind-the-scenes stories that occurred while filming.

Taking place in the mid-1930s in China, the story follows a group of Chinese Red Army soldiers who are ordered to go westward to establish ties with the Soviet Union. Carrying out the special mission, Chen Tiejin (Li), a company commander for the Red Army, meets his long lost elder brother Wang Bingsheng (Ho), who has become a commander working for a local warlord. Working in opposing camps, the brothers must not only deal with different political ideologies, but also their own personal issues.

Highly interesting in technology, A Gan chose to shoot the film entirely indoors using green screen technology.

"It actually cost more," A Gan said at the conference when asked if the choice to film indoors was to save on filming costs. "You can actually use green screen technology to more accurately depict the evironment [as it was 80 years ago]. Also, if you film outside there are many factors that will influence a shoot."

The film marks a departure for Ho. Normally playing positive and handsome characters, this time he plays a tough villain with scars on his face.