A tribute to an untold tragedy

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined academics, solidarity campaigners and members of the film industry for an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of the Axis in 1945 last week. Chinese and British publishers hosted a series of events to pay tribute to the victory at the London Book Fair and one of them was the special screening of The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru at the Soho Hotel Screening Room in heart of London’s cinema world.

The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru is a 2024 documentary feature film about a little-known Japanese war-crime during World War II, produced and directed by Fang Li, that features family members of the British prisoners of war who were on board the Lisbon Maru. It not only rediscovers a long-silent history but also tells the story of how the peoples of China and Britain supported one another in the darkest of times. 

The Lisbon Maru was a Japanese transport ship carrying Japanese troops as well as over 1,800 mainly British and Empire prisoners of war. On 2nd October 1942, the ship was tragically sunk by a US submarine in the waters off Zhoushan, China. The Americans were unaware of the POWs on board.

Rather than assist the POWs, the Japanese shot many who were trying to escape. Many more drowned. In all, 828 lives were lost during the incident. However, this amount would have been higher but for the heroic efforts of the local Chinese fishermen who risked their own lives to save 384 British soldiers from the water. The heart of the film is based around those heroic fishermen and the risks they took to assist.

Through rare archival footage, survivor testimonies and expert interviews, this poignant documentary uncovers the harrowing journey of the prisoners as the ship began to sink leaving them trapped below deck. The film also highlights the role of the Chinese fishermen who risked their lives to rescue as many prisoners as they could.

Since its release in China The Sinking of Lisbon Maru has received widespread critical acclaim, achieving a remarkable rating of 9.3 on Douban, a popular Chinese social networking and review platform. It became the highest-grossing and most-watched Chinese documentary of 2024, won the Best Documentary award at the Silk Road Awards, and was selected as China’s submission for Best International Feature at the 97th  Oscars. Following talks with an independent distributor the film may soon go on a limited general release in the UK.