The Lisbon Maru resurfaces on screen

Director and producer Fang Li speaks to the audience at the premiere of his documentary, The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru, on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, on Aug 23. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Documentary about wartime atrocity seeks to remind world of an overlooked event.

Fang Li, a 70-year-old director with 42 years of experience in exploration and marine surveying, and 24 years in the film industry, is both director and producer of The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru. During the documentary's recent national roadshow, Fang shared the emotional and historical significance of his latest project with China Daily. The interview took place online as he was traveling between theaters and universities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

Fang refers to the tour as "the film returning home", as the story of the Lisbon Maru took place in Zhejiang.

In 2014, during a visit to Dongji Island in Zhoushan with his friend and director Han Han for the filming of The Continent, Fang first heard the story of the Lisbon Maru from local boatmen.

Late in September 1942, the Japanese military used the ship to transport more than 1,800 British prisoners of war from Hong Kong to Japan. In the waters off Dongji Island, it was torpedoed by a US submarine. Over the course of the next 25 hours, as the ship began to sink, the Japanese sealed the POWs in three holds, nailing the doors shut with wooden planks and canvas. In a heroic act of survival, the POWs managed to break free. Seeing the sinking ship, more than 200 fishermen from Zhoushan risked their lives to save 384 POWs, sheltering some from Japanese search efforts, in a spirit of selflessness and bravery.

Fang was shocked. "How had we in China never heard of the Lisbon Maru? We know of the Titanic, the Taiping, and even the sinking of the Awa Maru, but no one here ever mentioned the Lisbon Maru. And for more than 70 years, no one had found its wreck," he says.

This mystery piqued Fang's curiosity, leading him to begin the search for the ship in 2016. After a fruitless 10-day effort, his team eventually located a large wreck. In 2017, using sonar technology and robots, they confirmed that its physical properties, contour, and structure matched those of the Lisbon Maru. Fang was elated.

During the journey, Fang learned of 94-year-old Lin Agen, the sole surviving fisherman to have participated in the rescue, and of a 98-year-old British soldier, Dennis Morley, who survived the ordeal. "It felt like a race against time. We had to document their stories before it was too late," Fang says.

Initially, Fang envisioned a traditional documentary with interviews and historical footage, but the power of the story and the emotional toll it took on the team pushed him to press for theatrical release. By 2018, he and his crew were traveling to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and other locations to interview survivors and historians, including Tony Banham, the first scholar to research the tragedy.

By April 2018, the team had conducted multiple interviews and the emotional weight of the stories was overwhelming. "Every day, we found ourselves in tears. These were stories that moved us to our core," Fang says.

The scale of the tragedy — 1,816 British POWs — led Fang to launch a search for more survivors and their families. He placed ads in British newspapers like The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, and The Guardian. "People thought I was crazy — 'Who even reads newspapers anymore?' they said. But I knew that the elderly, like myself, still do," Fang says. The campaign was a success, leading to BBC Radio 4 inviting him on a show, which in turn connected him with 380 POW families.

And during a show of BBC World News, the host asked Fang, "What made a group of Chinese people come all the way to the UK and launch a massive advertising campaign? What happened?"

Fang's reply was: "It's very simple. Did you know that 77 years ago, a major event took place right on our doorstep? Your soldiers, the same age as my son, were brutally attacked and massacred by the Japanese army, and over 1,800 of them went through a terrifying ordeal in Zhoushan. It was the kindhearted fishermen of China, our ancestors, who risked their lives under heavy gunfire to save them. Only then did the Japanese cease fire. In total, the fishermen of Dongji Island saved 384 Allied POWs. So why did a small group of Chinese people come here to do this? The reason is very simple: It happened in China, and the Chinese were the rescuers and eyewitnesses."

The team was surprised to discover that one of the rescued soldiers, William Beningfield, was still alive and living in Canada.

Fang had initially estimated the film would cost a few million yuan, but the scope of the project expanded, and by 2021, his funds ran dry. He sold his homes in Beijing and Chengdu and now rents an apartment. "I'm out of money, but it's OK as long as I'm still alive. And this film — it's something I have to make. It's my mission to remind the world of the story of the Lisbon Maru," Fang says.

Over the course of seven years, he and his crew traveled to the UK, the US, Japan, Canada, and China, gathering documents and interviewing the families of over 380 survivors. On Aug 23, The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru premiered on Dongji Island, where the tragedy occurred. Fang wrote on his WeChat moments: "We finally showed the documentary on Dongji Island, the very place where our ancestors performed their heroic acts 82 years ago. I also received the honorary title of 'Dongji Island Citizen' — a privilege I treasure deeply."

The film had a theatrical release on Sept 6, and quickly earned a rating of 9.3 on Douban, ranking first among theatrical releases this year. Viewers described it as "touching", "a reminder not to forget history", and "a tribute to the goodness of the Chinese people".

"The Chinese fishermen didn't understand English, so there was no verbal communication. They only knew that they needed to save people. This, I believe, reflected a fundamental kindness and beauty in human nature. That was the most touching part for me," said viewer Chang Shuoyu, according to CCTV News.

Sadly, many of the film's central narrators — Lin, Morley, and Beningfield — have passed away since 2019. Reflecting on the project, Fang says, "The window to capture these firsthand accounts was between 2018 and 2019. I was lucky to have seized that moment. Had I not acted, I would have been a criminal in the eyes of history."

For the director, the project has become a responsibility, a way to honor the lives lost and the brave actions of the Chinese fishermen who risked everything to save strangers.