Facing a painful past

Promotional material for Eyes of Dawn Photo: Courtesy of Long Media

Liming Zhi Yan (Eyes of Dawn), a film about Chinese comfort women, has set its premier for September 18, a date marking the beginning of Japanese aggression into China 83 years ago.

The film, which is based materials Hong Kong director Bruce Le has gathered over the past 20 years, reveals the tragic experiences and after-war emotional scars of a group of comfort women by following their stories over three generations.

"I personally visited several comfort women. Many of them were already in their 90s, and troubled by disease. Many passed away before they could receive an apology from Japan and so died filled with resentment. This made me feel the urgency of time. We have to do something for these old people and must engrave this humiliating history in our minds," the director said.

It is not the first time Le has focused on this issue. In 1992, he directed and acted in the film Comfort Women. This early film is about a female Japanese journalist who comes to China with the army to report on the war, but later is forced to become a comfort woman and writes a story of her fellow sufferers.

The director explained that he chose the name Eyes of Dawn because it carries the hope he has for a better future, "Although the pains of war will be left in people's mind forever and although the path to make Japan face up to historical issues is long and tortuous… We still need to believe this dark night will pass and the light of dawn will shine in our eyes."

Featuring famous writer and scriptwriter Yan Geling as a literary advisor, Eyes of Dawn also stars veteran actress Cheng Pei-pei and actor Kenneth Tsang.