Evan Kail, an American who has donated a photo album of Japanese war crimes during the World War II to China, said the film, Dead To Rights, keeps history alive, honors the victims, and exposes the past against all odds.
The film, a recent box-office hit in Chinese theaters, is about the Nanjing Massacre, the mass killing of Chinese civilians and soldiers by the Japanese invaders from December 1937 to January 1938, after Japan seized Nanjing during the World War II.
"It was a ten out of ten film that really rocked me emotionally. And it rocked me emotionally because one, its dealing with the Nanjing massacre. It's extremely difficult to watch what transpires on screen. It's a lot of the horrific things that you've heard about, that you've read about, that you may have seen pictures about," he said in a recent interview with the China Global Television Network.
As an American pawnshop owner and TikTok vlogger, Kail donated an old collection of photos from the World War II to the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago in 2022.
The collection that he received from a client contains more than 30 rare photos documenting barbarous acts of violence committed by Japanese forces in Shanghai before moving on to Nanjing where the brutal history of the Nanjing Massacre occurred.
Kail said the film gave him a tremendously emotional experience connecting his personal life.
"People know me now as a household name in China because of my acts of preserving history and doing the right thing and getting the word out about the truth of what happened in Nanjing in 1937. And that's what this film deals with. It’s trying to keep history alive, trying to expose what happened against great consequence and great odds, trying to keep the memories and the victims and the acts of the aggression or the horrible, horrible things that happened, showcase it and broadcast it to the world," he said.
As the film will soon be released in North America, Kail encouraged audiences there to go see this movie.
"I felt a deep connection with this movie because of the plot line and what happened with me. So, between just how disturbing it was to watch and then the fact that I have a connection with this disturbing film, it was a lot for me to handle. I literally cried in the theater, but it’s a tremendous film. I can't recommend people see it enough. It's going to be opening in North America on August 15. Hey, go see this movie, especially if you're unfamiliar with what happened. It's a great learning tool," he said.
"Dead To Rights" brings history to life: US donor of Japanese war crime photo album
