"The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru," a documentary on the heroic rescue of British prisoners of war (POWs) by Chinese fishermen during World War II, premiered Friday at the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival.
The 123-minute documentary features extensive interviews with survivors and their descendants in China's Zhoushan Islands and Hong Kong, as well as in Britain, the United States and Japan.
In October 1942, "Lisbon Maru," a cargo vessel requisitioned by the Japanese army to carry over 1,800 British POWs from Hong Kong to Japan, was sunk by the U.S. army off the Zhoushan Islands in China's Zhejiang Province. Local fishermen risked their lives to rescue over 300 POWs.
Denise Wynne, daughter of Dennis Morley, one of the survivors, was tearful after watching the documentary.
"I just think it's an amazing film and it should be shared all over the world and hopefully promote peace. Because that was just a terrible thing to happen. It should never happen again," said 75-year-old Wynne.
Tony Banham, the historian advising the makers of the film, also the author of the Sinking of Lisbon Maru, says one of the biggest challenges was getting the facts right given most witnesses have passed away.
"If you want a really, really accurate description of any event, you have to interview quite a lot of people, and also find documents from the period such as letters, diaries, anything that might have been written closer to the time, to enable you to focus on what really happened rather than people's memories," Banham said.
The producer and director of the documentary, Fang Li, is also an ocean exploration expert who located the sunken ship's location in 2016. Upon learning that few people know about the historical episode, he became resolute in his determination to make the film.
The documentary took about eight years to finish, as the production team interviewed more than 110 families of the British prisoners.
"When I found the sunken ship and I heard that there were only two people left who experienced the tragedy, since my second profession was filmmaking, I instinctively felt that if we didn't salvage the history, it would be lost forever. So it was just an instinct. I had no experience in documentary filmmaking or directing, and what I wanted was just to preserve the history," said Fang.
After the premiere, the film is scheduled for release to the general public later this year.
Documentary on Lisbon Maru rescue premiered in Shanghai
Documentary on Lisbon Maru rescue premiers in Shanghai
A 25 percent import tariff on all foreign-built vehicles entering the United States has raised serious concerns for manufacturers in South Africa.
Automotive giants like Mercedes and BMW have long used South Africa as a base for global exports -- but those plans may be shifting into reverse gear after the U.S. announced the punitive measures.
"If you take, for example, BMW, 97 percent of the X3 that we are producing in Rosslyn is exported out of the country. We only sell 3 percent in South Africa, and there's a huge number of those vehicles that also go into the U.S. So there are companies in South Africa that are purely here not because they are selling vehicles in South Africa; they are here to produce vehicles for the global market, and it's important for them to remain globally competitive," said Mike Mabasa, CEO of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.
U.S. automaker Ford, which has deep roots in South Africa, is also in the crosshairs.
The company recently invested over 300 million U.S. dollars to upgrade its Silverton plant in Pretoria, South Africa, for the production of the world's only plug-in hybrid Ranger, which has just entered production but could face delays or restrictions.
"If an American citizen wants to buy specifically a Ford Ranger that is a plug-in hybrid, they can only place an order in South Africa, nowhere else in the world. So, that means, obviously, the capacity of Ford to be able to produce those vehicles in big volumes is going to be constrained, because Americans are going be looking at another Ford that is produced in another country, or even in the United States," said Mabasa.
South Africa has long enjoyed duty-free automotive exports to the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, but that relationship now hangs in the balance.
A sharp shift in U.S. foreign policy threatens to derail an industry that employs thousands and contributes around 5 percent to the country's economy.
"We produce less than 1 percent of global automotive vehicles, so to say. So, in reality, the impact on us is likely to be more disproportionate than those of our peers that produce at the same level. And the risk is actually created -- a concentration risk -- in countries that have greater capacity and are building more; in those countries will be able to absorb some of this," said Parks Tau, South Africa's minister of trade and industry.
Amid growing concerns about overreliance on the U.S. market, Amith Singh, national manager for manufacturing at Nedbank Commercial Bank, emphasized the importance of tapping into regional trade opportunities.
"I think we need to make better use of some of our local agreements, our African continental agreements. How do we leverage that? How do we partner with the government and private sector to start benefiting the countries and the economies aside from the United States? So, those could be the catalyst to drive our localization projects; it could be what we need to drive the African economy as opposed to being completely reliant on the States (United States)," he said.
South Africa is for now standing firm in its decision not to retaliate against steep U.S. import tariffs, set to take effect in just a few days.
Officials in Pretoria acknowledge the challenges posed by the current U.S. administration but are pursuing a diplomatic approach in hopes of maintaining stable relations and preserving the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
US tariffs rock South Africa’s auto industry
