NANKING

Synopsis (from the NANKING website)
“A powerful, emotional and relevant reminder of the heartbreaking toll war takes on the innocent, NANKING tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China, in the early days of World War II. As part of a campaign to conquer all of China, the Japanese subjected Nanking – which was then China’s capital – to months of aerial bombardment, and when the city fell, the Japanese army unleashed murder and rape on a horrifying scale. In the midst of the rampage, a small group of Westerners banded together to establish a Safety Zone where over 200,000 Chinese found refuge. Unarmed, these missionaries, university professors, doctors and businessmen – including a Nazi named John Rabe – bore witness to the events, while risking their own lives to protect civilians from slaughter.

“The story is told through deeply moving interviews with Chinese survivors, chilling archival footage and photos of the events, and testimonies of former Japanese soldiers. At the heart of NANKING is a filmed stage reading of the Westerners’ letters and diaries, featuring Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway and Jurgen Prochnow. Through its interweave of archival images, testimonies of survivors, and readings of first hand accounts, the film puts the viewer on the streets of Nanking and brings the forgotten past to startling life.

“NANKING is a testament to the courage and conviction of individuals who were determined to act in the face of evil and a powerful tribute to the resilience of the Chinese people – a gripping account of light in the darkest of times.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (from NANKING website)
“Japan had a presence in mainland Asia since 1931, when they annexed Manchuria and established Manchuoko, a puppet Japanese state. In August 1937, Japan began a full-scale invasion of China. The Japanese army fought a series of fierce ground battles in Shanghai and launched a massive air raid campaign against Nanking, then China’s capital. By November 12th, Shanghai had fallen and by December 13th, the Japanese had defeated the defending Chinese army and invaded the city of Nanking.

“The events now known as ‘the rape of Nanking’ lasted approximately six weeks. The city was looted and burned, and marauding Japanese soldiers unleashed a staggering wave of violence on Nanking’s population. According to the summary judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East – also known as the Tokyo Trials, “estimates indicate that the total number of civilians and prisoners of war murdered in Nanking and its vicinity during the first six weeks of the Japanese occupation was over 200,000. Approximately 20,000 cases of rape occurred in the city during the first month of the occupation.”

“Prior to the fall of the city, many Chinese fled the approaching troops and all foreign citizens were ordered to evacuate. A group of 22 European and American expatriates, however, refused to leave. Despite devastating air strikes and the threat of an oncoming army, these Westerners – including John Rabe, a Nazi businessman; Bob Wilson, an American surgeon; and Minni Vautrin, the American headmistress of a missionary college – remained behind in order to set up a Safety Zone to protect civilians. Some two hundred thousand refugees crowded into the Zone, which spanned two square miles. During the brutal occupation, Safety Zone committee members vehemently protested the army’s actions to the Japanese authorities, but the carnage continued. Every day John Rabe, Minnie Vautrin, and the others fought to keep the Safety Zone’s boundaries intact and the refugees safe.

“By March, the worst of the violence had subsided and the army moved on, leaving behind an occupying force. The refugee camps in the Safety Zone were disbanded, though intensive relief efforts continued. The Japanese set up a puppet government that ruled Nanking until the end of the war. In 1948, the Tokyo Tribunal convicted Iwane Matsui, commander of Japanese forces in central China, of war crimes and sentenced him to death. Emperor Hirohito and his uncle Prince Asaka, who commanded the troops that actually occupied Nanking during the massacre, were spared.

“Today, many Japanese know little about the wartime atrocities their country committed throughout Asia. Seventy years later, the invasion of Nanking remains a divisive issue. Some Japanese ultra-conservatives deny or minimize the massacre; to this day, many Japanese believe stories of atrocities in Nanking are exaggerations and lies. Soon after producer Ted Leonsis decided to create a documentary about Nanking, mass protests broke out in China over Japanese approval of textbooks that called the Nanking massacre an ‘incident.’ The protests made headlines around the world. Many in Asia are also outraged by the former Japanese prime minister’s annual pilgrimage to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Along with millions of soldiers who died for the Japanese Emperor, Yasukuni – which translates as ‘peaceful nation’ – enshrines the souls of 14 class A war criminals.

“In advance of December 2007, the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Nanking, the Chinese and Japanese governments have convened a joint committee of historians in an attempt to agree upon a common version of the history of the Sino-Japanese conflict, including what happened in Nanking.”

Filmmakers
Bill Guttentag

Writer/director/producer Bill Guttentag has won two Academy Awards: in 2003 for TWIN TOWERS, a documentary short about two heroic brothers on 9/11 and in 1989 for YOU DON’T HAVE TO DIE, a documentary short about a boy who overcame cancer and taught others how to hope. Guttentag has received an additional three Oscar nominations and two Emmy Awards for his documentary work which has examined the devastation of crack cocaine on American lives, the results of handguns falling into the hands of children.
Bill Guttentag also created and executive produced the NBC series CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (a non-fiction courtroom series, 2002-2004). His 20-year career has included documentaries made for HBO, ABC, CBS, and others. Other subjects that he has made docs about include the Memphis Police Department, the final year of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and the Drug War in South America. Most recently, besides NANKING, Guttentag has written and directed LIVE!, a mockumentary about a TV reality show which features contestants playing Russian roulette live. Besides his full writing/directing schedule, Guttentag also teaches a graduate class on the film and TV business at Stanford.

Dan Sturman
Normally a producer, Dan Sturman joined Bill Guttentag to direct NANKING. They had already worked together when Sturman produced TWIN TOWERS and the three seasons of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Sturman has an extensive background in news reporting and producing (ABC, CBS, the BBC, Reuters, and NBC).
In 1992, Sturman associate-produced the Academy Award-winning documentary, A TIME FOR JUSTICE, which chronicled the lives of men, women, and children killed during the American Civil Rights Movement.