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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Amy Hawkins

‘I wanted those 828 men not to be forgotten’: the Chinese documentary raising wartime ghosts

‘The value of the film is the human stories’ … Fang Li (right) speaks to local fishermen and their families.
‘The value of the film is the human stories’ … Fang Li (right) speaks to local fishermen and their families. Photograph: Emei Film Group

A little-known tragedy from the second world war is the subject of a documentary that has been a surprise hit in China and is the country’s pick for two Academy Awards – although it has already been disqualified from one of the categories.

On Monday, it was revealed that The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru, which had been selected by China as its entry for the best international feature prize at the Oscars, had been deemed ineligible. The competition’s rules state that a film in that category must have “a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track”.

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