How a Chinese filmmaker brought a forgotten British WWII tragedy back to life
A Chinese made documentary about the Lisbon Maru disaster is igniting interest, selling out cinemas across the country and is now set to be released in the UK
Have you heard of the Lisbon Maru? Probably not, or maybe it does ring a bell.
The Chinese director Fang Li has set out to make sure that it is a story none of us forget and in the process, he has helped hundreds of British families trace a key part of their history.
What started out as a professional curiosity for Fang Li, became a project that spanned the world, creating what he describes as his "greatest life work".
The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru will be released in UK cinemas in March after securing a British distributor. It was released in China this summer and proved a box office hit.
Seven years ago, while filming on an island off the coast of eastern China, Fang Li learned about a Japanese prisoner of war transport ship called the Lisbon Maru which had sunk in nearby waters in 1942.
Local fisherman had helped rescue hundreds of British soldiers who the Japanese had left for dead. They even opened fire on those who fell overboard.
Priding himself on knowing a lot about history and World War Two in the Asia Pacific, Fang Li had never heard the story and put together a team to try to find the wreckage.
It took several attempts, but he eventually produced a sonar image of the sunken Lisbon Maru.
That ended up being just beginning, as he thought about the 820 men who died on the ship, and the 1,000 who survived.
Who were they, what happened to them, where were they now, and could he find their relatives?
In 2018, he paid for full page ads to be placed in several British newspapers, beginning his search for the families of the soldiers.
From that search and with the help of the Royal British Legion, he managed to track down what were believed to be the last living survivors.
Brian Morley and William Benningfield both died before the film was completed, but their testimony, still so clear after all these years, was crucial to what Fang Li was able to produce.
Although glad to have been able to meet them, and share their stories, Fang felt regret for not having started the project sooner.
Several families also got in touch and agreed to share what they knew, and letters or photographs sent by their loved ones who had been on board.
Using animation and recorded testimony from the Imperial War Museum, Fang Li pieced together the events of the first few days of October 1942, to re-create the journey of the Lisbon Maru.
Detailing the appalling conditions endured by the British POWs and the terrifying moment when the vessel was struck by torpedoes.
The ship was unmarked, and an American submarine mistook it for a regular Japanese transport ship.
Before he passed away, naval officer Jack Hughieson gave his oral testimony to the Imperial War Museum and his voice appears in the film talking about the two days he survived in the water before he was rescued by Chinese fishermen.
It is a harrowing and moving account that shows the incredible strength of character of the men of that time.
The film has been entered for the Oscars and the BAFTAs.
Fang Li has already been awarded several accolades in China, but he says the real prize has been bring the families of the Lisbon Maru POWs together.
It is thanks to his determination that one of Britain’s largest losses of life at sea has been brought to the big screen.
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