China Picks ‘The Sinking Of The Lisbon Maru’ As Country’s Oscar Submission

China has picked World War II documentary The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru as its submission for the Oscars‘ best international feature film category.

Directed by Fang Li, the film’s selection is the first documentary that the country has picked as its representative at the Academy Awards.

The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru was the opening film of the Shanghai International Film Festival, held in June.

Using live interviews, historical footage and animated reconstructions, the documentary focuses on a WWII event in 1942 when a Japanese transport ship named The Lisbon Maru was torpedoed by the U.S. Navy. Onboard the vessel were British prisoners-of-war and over 800 British troops perished during the incident. Around 380 British prisoners-of-war were saved by nearby Chinese fishermen.

For the Oscars, China has historically selected films that are able to drum up nationalistic pride, and The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru continues this trend. The film highlights how the Chinese fishermen risked their lives to rescue and protect British prisoners-of-war from Japanese forces.

The Sinking of Lisbon Maru had its domestic theatrical release on September 6.

China has been nominated in the best international film category twice at the Oscars, with Zhang Yimou receiving a nomination in 1990 for Ju Dou and in 2002 for Hero.