REFLECTING HISTORY
CHINA A NEW OLD EMPIRE FROM IN AND OUT

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

THE NANJING MASSACRE: MEMORY AND OBLIVION

(NANKIN: LE MEMOIRE ET L'OUBLI)

France, 2006, 52 min.

Director: Michael Prazan
Producer: Sophie Goupil, Sylvain Bursztejn
Cinematography: Liu Yong Hong, Michaël Prazan, Takenori Yamada, Anaïs Martane
Editing: Christian Girier
Music: Gayo Nakagaki, Kaza No Kioku- I&M Co, Strobe nanafushi, Satori mix inspired by traditional music
Sound: Song Yu Zhe, George Obara
Production company: Les Poissons Volants, Rosem Films
Print Source:
Sophie Goupil
Les Poissons Volants
Address: 3 rue Martel – 75010 Paris
Tel.: +33 1 47 70 44 74
Fax: +33 1 47 70 44 94
e-mail: Juliette.gault@poissonsvolants.com
www.poissonsvolants.com


The Nanjing Massacre: Memory and Oblivion

Year 2007 marks the 70th anniversary of the Nanking Massacre. Commonly known at The Rape of Nanking, it is considered one of the most abominable crimes committed by the Japanese after the Chinese town fell to the Imperial Japanese Army on December 13, 1937. The massacre lasted well into the following year and left a reported 300 000 men, women and children dead. Though scholars debate as to the exact number of people killed and some Japanese nationalists have even gone so far as to dispute the event itself, history has taught us that people don’t forget. Compiled from survivor testimony, archive materials and historical evidence, this engrossing film reconstructs the facts of the atrocities committed in Nanking. By shedding light on this disputed event, one which has divided the neighboring countries and left inhabitants full of pain and resentment, filmmaker Michael Prazan hopes to absorb this lapse in collective memory and bring the people of China and Japan closer together.

Michael Prazan was born in 1970. A French literature professor and writer turned filmmaker. He Graduated from Sorbone Department of Linguistics in 1996. Michael Prazan has a firm grip on Japanese society where he lived for several years. He has made it his specialty to explore the dark recesses of the memory of peoples. The first film he directed on Japan, Japan, the Red Years, unveiled the terrorist tendencies of some of Japan’s May ’68 children. Most recently, he’s written a book and directed a film, The Assassination of Pierre Goldman, on the guilt-free life and death of a French ex-revolutionary turned hold-up man. Ten years ago, he was the first journalist to write on the rising negationist wave in Japan. His books and films treat about the same topic of history and memory.

Filmography:

The Nanjing Massacre: Memory and Oblivion (2006);
Japan, the Red Years (2002);
Desease No.9 (2001).

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 AT 1:00 PM./GALLERY THEATRE

SCREENING WITH THEY CHOSE CHINA

SUNDAY, APRIL 8 AT 7:00 PM./CHOPIN THEATRE

SCREENING WITH THEY CHOSE CHINA