The film depicts an obscure episode in Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary life, when he sought refuge in Penang from July to December 1910.
The film premiere at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 27 June 2007 was attended by both Chinese and Malaysian government leaders and media.
A charity premier was held in Penang on 17 September 2007 in aid of the new Wawasan Open University (WOU) Chancellor's scholarship fund.
“Road To Dawn” in Japanese title 「孫文-100年先を見た男-」has recently gained attention in Japan, where starting from 5 September 2008 it screened for about seven months.
[3] Other international movies have used Penang a substitute location -- Indochine (1992),Paradise Road (1997), Anna and The King (1999), The Touch (2002), and Lust, Caution (2007).
Road To Dawn fully exploits the multicultural setting of Penang, showing cultural diversity in ethnic communities, costumes, houses of worship and architectural heritage.
Angelica Lee plays a young woman from the Straits Chinese (also called Baba Nyonya or peranakan) minority community.
The first was in the 1997 movie, The Soong Sisters in which he played the older Sun Yat Sen from the time of the Xinhai Revolution up to his death.
The second part of the conference, held on November 14, 1910 at 120 Armenian Street, was shot on location in the historic house which is now the Sun Yat Sen Museum Penang.