儘管是八十年後的今天，人們依舊無法忘懷1937年時，日軍強暴並屠殺上千名中國百姓及戰俘的事件。南京大屠殺將再次呈現於中國學童、屠殺倖存者及其後代眼前。八十年前，中國的南京遭受了日軍可怕的暴行。有三十多萬中國人遇害，兩萬多人遭到強暴。南京大屠殺的八十週年紀念日即將到來，而倖存者也隨之減少。一群高中學生在製片人的陪同下拜訪了南京大屠殺紀念館，而南京一間小學的五年級生也將了解到這個城市的黑暗歷史。
我們與88歲的倖存者夏淑卿及其四代家屬見了面，她講述了當時的故事，她在大屠殺中失去了七名家屬。他們的經歷和學生們了解到事實後
的反應，是本紀錄片的重心。此外，專家們也對此事件提出了精闢的見解，例如著名的歷史學家伊恩布魯馬，他同時也是《紐約書評》的編輯與《戰後零年：1945年的歷史》的作者。還有奧斯卡金像獎提名製片人克莉絲丁喬伊(作品：《奉天皇之命》)，與喬治華盛頓大學的歷史學家楊大慶和康乃狄克大學的亞歷克西斯杜登，皆會針對此事件提出他們的看法。
In SCARS OF NANJING: 80 YEARS AFTER,the rape and slaughter of thousands of Chinese civilians and prisoners of war by Japanese troops in 1937 resonates across generations. Through the eyes of Chinese schoolchildren, massacre survivors, and their descendants,the history of the infamous “Rape of Nanjing” unfolds. Exactly eighty years ago, a city and a country were subjected to terrible atrocitiesat the hands of theinvading Japanese military.As many as 300,000 Chinese were killed and 20,000 rapes committed. As the eightieth anniversary approaches and living survivors dwindle, the filmmakers accompany a high school class of teenagers as they take a tour of the Nanjing Memorial Hall. A fifth grade class in a Nanjing primary school also learns about this dark chapter in their city’s past.Eighty-eight-year oldsurvivor Xia Shuquin, who lost 7 family members in the massacre, tells her story as we meet four generations of her descendants.Theirexperiencesand the reactionsof the studentsto what they are learning providethe backbone of thedocumentary, along withpowerful insight on memory and trauma provided by renowned experts such ashistorian and authorIan Buruma,editor of the New York Review of Booksand author of Year Zero: A History of 1945; Academy Award nominated filmmaker Christine Choy (“In the Name of the Emperor”),and historians Daqing Yangof George Washington University and Alexis Dudden of the University of Connecticut.
