Promotional material for the documentary The Sinking of The Lisbon Maru Photo: Courtesy of the production team

The highly anticipated documentary The Sinking of The Lisbon Maru will be released publicly across China on Friday. The film tells a story interwoven with the cruelty of war, the brutality of the Japanese fascists, as well as the courage and humanitarian care of the ordinary Chinese people.

The truth about the sunken Lisbon Maru needs to be known by the whole world, said renowned Chinese filmmaker Fang Li, who directed and produced the documentary.

“I hope that every audience can further learn about the brutality of war through it, and cherish the peace we have today,” Fang told the Global Times on Thursday.

The documentary features the 1942 sinking of the “Lisbon Maru,” an armed Japanese cargo ship that participated in World War II. In October that year, Lisbon Maru transported more than 1,800 British prisoners of war (POWs) from Hong Kong toward Japan, without bearing a sign indicating it was carrying POWs – a violation of the Geneva Convention.

After being struck by the torpedo of a US submarine, Japanese soldiers cruelly battened the POWs down below deck, left them to drown, and even shot at them, leading to the deaths of 828 prisoners.

When the ship went down off the coast of Zhoushan Islands in East China’s Zhejiang Province, 384 POWs were fortunately rescued by local Chinese fishermen, who pulled them from the water risking their own life.

For decades, the Japanese authorities refused to acknowledge their atrocities committed in the Lisbon Maru incident. By chance, Fang, who is also an expert in geophysical exploration and marine technology, heard the story from some fishermen in Zhoushan in 2014, and later thought about making a documentary about it.

“I made the film to reveal the truth, for the young men who died in the Zhoushan Islands waters, and for the Chinese fishermen who helped rescue them,” Fang told the Global Times.

The film is not only for Chinese moviegoers, but audience from all over the world, particularly young people, he added. “I hope the film enables today’s youth to cherish their families, the people around them, and appreciate everything they own.”

Ahead of its nationwide release, The Sinking of The Lisbon Maru has already received many positive reviews in its preview screenings.

During the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival in June, several families of the POWs attended the documentary’s premiere. Denise Wynne, daughter of one of the survivors Dennis Morley, said that the heroism of the Chinese fishermen showed in the filmed impressed her a lot.

“My dad always said that the Chinese fishermen were heroes, and without them, I wouldn’t be here,” Wynne told the Global Times after the premiere.