The window is closing on the chance to capture the oral history of World War II, said the director of a recent historical documentary, "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru."
Depicting the story of courageous Chinese fishermen who rescued 384 British prisoners of war (POWs) amid heavy Japanese gunfire during the war, the documentary relies on the first-hand accounts of the last surviving witnesses and veterans.
During a recent interview with China Global Television Network, director Fang Li said that when he happened to hear the story of Lisbon Maru from fishermen in Zhoushan Islands, east China's Zhejiang Province, where the historical event took place, he decided that the full story must be told.
"Where did they come from? Why are they here? What happened here? So that's a very strong curiosity and also deep sad feeling about that. They're so far away from Europe, right in front of our gate. So there's a touching point. You remembered those lost lives and forgotten men. So when I return to the shore, then I heard the only surviving POW Dennis Morley, who is 98 years old already. The only [living] fisherman who rescued POWs, Mr. Lin, he is 94 years old. Then you know, the time is critical, very short. As I believe, that's the last window. If we don't do anything, we're going to lose all the oral history," said Fang.
In October 1942, the 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.
On June 14, "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru" made its global premiere in Shanghai. It took around eight years to finish, as the production team interviewed more than 110 families of the Lisbon Maru survivors.
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.
On the ongoing conflicts such as the Ukraine crisis and the escalating situation in the Middle East, Fang said that by making the documentary, he wanted to show the world that war can only bring suffering and trauma for ordinary people.
"I think the lesson everybody wants to learn is for any war, there's no winner. And for people, for normal people, there's no winner. Any war that happens, civilians, families are the victims, always. Not for the politicians, but for the normal people (who) suffer a lot," said the director.
Lisbon Maru documentary strives to uncover untold WWII history: director
