THE SINKING OF LISBON MARU (LI SI BEN WAN CHEN MO), 2023

China | DCP, Color, 123’ |Mandarin, English
Directors: Fang Li, Ming Fan, Lily Gong

Opening with haunting underwater footage of the wreck that has lain silently beneath the sea for decades, the documentary revisits the 1942 tragedy in which the sinking of the Lisbon Maru claimed the lives of hundreds of British prisoners of war. By weaving survivors’ and relatives’ testimonies with sound and photographic archives, the film builds a powerful bridge between historical record and contemporary research. Bringing an obscured chapter of war history into view with empathy, it invites reflection on both historical memory and the ethical boundaries of documentary cinema.