Guttenbag personally met survivors of the Nanjing Massacre in which 300,000 people were murdered.(Photo: Chinadaily.com) Photo Gallery>>>

    Guttentag said as a director he wanted the film to reach the biggest audience possible.

    "I want teenagers in the United States who know nothing about it, the 80-year-old in China who still remembers it, the 50-year-olds who know something about it, and the 30-year-olds who know nothing about it, to see the film," he said.

    And Leonsis believes this film, similar to March of the Penguins, and Fahrenheit 9/11, will be able to tap into audiences attuned to the subjects, as he told the Washington Post.

    He considers these films to be "nichebusters" because they generate intense interest among disparate segments of society, adding up to a big audience. He and his team believe the film has crossover appeal among several "niches" including Chinese, Japanese, Germans and Christians.

    Leonsis has sold broadcast rights for Nanking to CCTV, the Chinese national television network to ensure the film would reach China's 500 million households. He also hoped the theatrical release would be followed by DVD, TV and cable sales. Then he wanted people to find the movie online. He is creating a Nanking website, where people can download the film for free.

    "The most important message we want to convey is in remembrance of the wartime horror," said Guttentag, "so that we will not repeat the same mistake when we move on."

    The profit out of this film, which will premiere in China on July 7 and is expected to screen in the US at the end of the year, will go toward creating a foundation for the victims and their offspring, said Leonsis. But according to Guttentag, the Japanese government is unlikely to allow the film to be screened in their country.

    Photos, letters and other historical evidence he assembled for the film will be donated to Georgetown University, where Leonsis studied.

    (Source: China Daily)

Shedding light on a dark chapter of history

    BEIJING, July 6 -- Many filmmakers are reflecting on the upcoming 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, in which about 300,000 Chinese people in the then-capital (known as Nanking) were killed by invading Japanese troops.

    While Ted Leonsis' Nanking is scheduled to hit Chinese cinemas this month, his Chinese counterparts are also working on films that delve into this dark chapter of the Japanese occupation of China. Full story

U.S. documentary on Nanjing Massacre to be screened in China

    BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. documentary chronicling Japan's notorious 1937 invasion of the Chinese city Nanjing will open in Chinese cinemas on July 7, the 70th anniversary of the Warof Resistance against Japan.

    The 90-minute documentary, "Nanking" (the old spelling of the city's name), features interviews with Chinese survivors and Japanese soldiers, along with pictures, letters and diaries read by actors portraying Westerners who helped save more than 200,000 Chinese refugees in Nanjing. Full story