Film Screening: “Anti-Japanese War Veteran” (Jiang Nengjie, 2015)
**Jiang Nengjie, 2015, China, Chinese with English subtitles**
Introduction by Professor Kang Liu (AMES).
Following the screening, stay for a conversation with director Jiang Nengjie, moderated by Professor Liu.
Synopsis:
A veteran, Mr. Long's life was full of stories. Yet, he lived his life in silence and never told others about his experience on the battlefield.
Mr. Long was called a bad guy and "soldier riffraff" during the Cultural Revolution. Afterwards, when people asked him about his experiences on the battlefield, he got scared, as political investigations immediately came to his mind.
Only in 2013 did the Ministry of Civil Affairs officially announce the rehabilitation of these soldiers. The ministry promised that there were funds to deal with difficulties faced in their old age. When Mr. Long heard this, he could not conceal his excitement, trembling all over. He kept asking, "Is this for real?" However, he passed away before he received this pension. At Mr. Long's funeral, a villager loudly proclaimed his memorial speech, which drew us into deep thought...
About the director:
Jiang Nengjie is a renowned independent filmmaker, documentarian, and director. He is the founder of "Cotton Sand" Video Studio and "Cotton Sand" Village Library, a winner of the Phoenix Television Top Ten Public Welfare Figures Award, and a German Blue Study House Foundation 2024 visiting scholar.
His works focus on topics such as left-behind children, war veterans, pneumoconiosis, intellectual disabilities, and sexual minorities. Representative works include "The Children of Village School," "Grade Nine," "Shorty," "Miners, the Horsekeeper, and Pneumoconiosis," "Anti-Japanese War Veteran," "We Will Have Everything," "General's Attendant Guard," "Rainbow Cruise."and "Fen." His films have been shortlisted at the Shanghai International Film Festival, the Warsaw International Film Festival, the Beijing International Film Festival, the Phoenix Documentary Awards, and other domestic and international film festivals.
***This screening is co-sponsored by APSI, the Duke Program of Research on China, and Professor Jian Liu (John & Deborah McNeill, Jr. Distinguished Professor, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry)***
