A political thriller about an intelligence agent who uncovers a network of Chinese operatives in Canada whose aim is to silence dissidents and advance Beijing’s agenda premieres this week.
Set in Toronto, “The Puppeteers” tells the story of CSIS agent Stella Bolano who is assigned to investigate the suicide of a Chinese immigrant. As the investigation unfolds, she exposes a covert network of Chinese police stations in Toronto involved in monitoring dissidents, harassing activists, and infiltrating Canadian politics.
The movie will premiere on the Gan Jing World (GJW) video platform on April 25. Inspired by true events, “The Puppeteers” was directed by Toronto filmmaker Kevin Yang, whose 2019 film “Claws of the Red Dragon” won two awards and received a nomination for a Canadian Screen Award.
“The Puppeteers is inspired by real events, exposing the hidden world of transnational repression,” Yang said. “What we see today is likely just the tip of the iceberg. This film is about power, control, and the fight to resist oppression.”
The issue of illegal overseas Chinese police stations became public in 2022, when Spanish NGO Safeguard Defenders published a report detailing how at least 102 of them existed across 53 countries at the time, including three in the Greater Toronto Area and one in Vancouver.
The report found that while these organizations stated their role was to persuade fraud suspects to return to China for prosecution, many of those targeted were Chinese dissidents who had fled religious or ethnic persecution by the Beijing regime.
The RCMP began an investigation and reported in 2023 that it had dismantled illegal operations linked to Chinese police stations in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. The RCMP in Quebec launched a public campaign against Beijing-led criminal activities in July 2024, urging the public to “report any form of threats, harassment or intimidation anonymously from the Chinese Communist Party.”
As the film’s protagonist, Bolano, investigates further, her father becomes a target of those trying to further Beijing’s interests. Racing against the clock, she must uncover who is pulling the strings before she becomes the next target.
Toronto filmmaker Kevin Yang (R) with the production team on the set of “The Puppeteers." New Realm Studios
The film stars Canadian singer and songwriter Amy Rivard in the role of Bolano, and features Toronto-born actor Brian Law as an undercover RCMP agent.
Produced by NTD Canada, “The Puppeteers” will premiere at 8 p.m. EST and be available to watch for free on GJW during the first three hours after its release.
The film is a thematic sequel to “Claws of the Red Dragon,” a fictional story based on real events exploring the tensions between Canada and China after the December 2018 arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, following a U.S. extradition request. Soon after, Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained in China, in a move that was widely seen as retaliation.
“Claws of the Red Dragon” tells the story of a journalist working to expose the ties between Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party.
“Bringing this story to life was both a challenge and a responsibility,” Yang said of his latest film. “I hope ‘The Puppeteers’ sparks awareness and encourages audiences to question, challenge, and seek the truth.”
