Following its critically acclaimed debut at the 2007 Sundance
Film Festival and the recent showing at the Shanghai Film Festival,
Nanking will receive its first theatrical release in China
on July 7.
Producer Ted Leonsis, Academy Award-winning director Bill
Guttentag and co-director Dan Sturman will attend the July 3
premiere of the film at the National Political Consultative
Auditorium in Beijing.
Nanking will be released in China by Hua Xia, China's
second largest film distributor, with rollout beginning on July 7
marking the 70th Anniversary of the War of Resistance Against
Japan.
In North America, it will be released by ThinkFilm in December
2007 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the massacres in
Nanking.
Nanking tells the story of the Japanese invasion of
Nanking (now called "Nanjing"), China, in the early days of World
War II. As part of a campaign to conquer all of China, the Japanese
subjected Nanjing - which was then China's capital - to months of
aerial bombardment, and when it fell, the Japanese army engaged in
murder and rape on a horrifying scale.
In the midst of the rampage, a small group of Westerners banded
together to establish a Safety Zone where over 200,000 Chinese
found refuge. Unarmed, these missionaries, university professors,
doctors, and businessmen - including a German member of the Nazi
party - bore witness to the events, while risking their own lives
to protect civilians from slaughter.
The story is told through deeply moving interviews with Chinese
survivors, chilling archival footage and photos of the events, and
testimonies of former Japanese soldiers.
Another essential stage of pre-production was finding Chinese
survivors to take part in the film.
In December 2005, Co-Producer Violet Du Feng traveled to Nanjing
to meet with over 30 survivors.
Shooting in Japan was more difficult because the subject of
Nanjing is so controversial there. It was challenging to find
former Japanese soldiers willing to talk about their experiences in
Nanjing. The Japanese soldiers who participated in the film were
found through members of the Japanese peace movement.
Upon returning from Asia, the Nanking production team
began the final piece of the filming - the staged reading with
actors.
Nanking is a testament to the courage and conviction of
individuals who were determined to act in the face of evil and a
powerful tribute to the resilience of the Chinese people -- a
gripping account of light in the darkest of times, said the
documentary's notes released by ThinkFilm, the distributor.
(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2007)
