The Film Nanjing Photo Studio Uses Rolls Of Film To Capture Nanjing in 1937

On December 13, 1937, Nanjing fell. Over the next six weeks, the Japanese army perpetrated a massacre that shocked the world, killing over 300,000 compatriots.

The film focuses on the small "Auspicious Photo Studio" within the occupied city.

• Postman Achang, apprentice Luo Jin, owner Lao Jin, and others, initially seeking their own safety, discovered while developing photos for the Japanese army: evidence of mass shootings, riverside cremations, and a 100-man killing contest on the negatives.

• Risking their lives, they reprinted and bound 16 negatives, hand-lettered a large "shame," and hid them in the cracks of the Nanjing city wall. This became "Beijing's No. 1 Exhibit" at the postwar trial of war criminal Tani Hisao.

The photo studio thus became a "safety light" in the darkness: developing photographs, but also national dignity; capturing personal courage, but also collective memory.

Following the place names and clues left by the film, Nanjing today has solidified that history into a tangible urban memory-

1. Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders (Jiangdong Gate)

The site of the "mass grave" repeatedly depicted in the film is here. The number "300,000" is engraved on the gray granite wall; in the archives hall, 10,665 file boxes correspond to each named victim. Stepping out of the cinema and into this space, the shock of the screen is transformed into a truly tangible silence.

2. Zhonghua Gate Barbican

The scene in the film where Zhonghua Gate collapses under artillery fire is breathtaking. Today, the gate remains majestic. Climbing the city walls and gazing out, the water of the outer Qinhuai River is now clear, but the warmth of the film negatives still lingers in the cracks between the bricks.

3. Confucius Temple and Old Mendong

The children's rhyme "How high is the city gate?" sung by characters in the film still echoes through the alleys of Gongyuan Street and Old Mendong in Confucius Temple today. The lights, the pleasure boats, the steaming hot steam of salted duck and duck blood vermicelli soup all reinforce the hard-earned value of life.

4. Purple Mountain - Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum - Linggu Scenic Area

Ascending the steps from Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum offers a panoramic view of the 1937 Safety Zone; the evening bells of Linggu Temple sound like a prayer for the departed. In the film, translator Wang Guanghai and his female student Yuxiu promised to visit Purple Mountain to see the maple leaves after the war. Today, the mountains are still covered in crimson leaves, but they were unable to keep their promise.

5. Xuanwu Lake

The Ming Dynasty city wall on the lakeside was bathed in the crimson glow of artillery fire in the film. Today, rent a boat and paddle across the same waters, framing the Zifeng Tower and the ancient city wall, and you'll understand the weight of the words "the mountains and rivers are safe and sound."

6. Yihe Road, Yanggongjing, Qijiawan

These old streets, so fleeting in the film's plot, still retain their Republican-era architecture and the bustling life of the city. Strolling through the Gongguan District of Yihe Road, the mottled shadows of the plane trees seem to evoke the image of the photo studio owner, Lao Jin, hurrying by with his camera.

In 2025, only 26 survivors of the Nanjing Massacre remain alive, with an average age of 94. The film "Nanjing Photo Studio" captures their memories, and the city of Nanjing has imbued them with its streets and landscapes.

So, after watching the film, please shed your tears in the theater and journey to Nanjing-

Offer a white chrysanthemum to the victims at Jiangdong Gate; touch an old brick at Zhonghua Gate; watch the sunset by Xuanwu Lake paint the city walls golden; and savor a sip of piping hot duck blood and vermicelli soup at Confucius Temple. History and reality, reflected in each other on the same land, remind us:

"If we all forget, who will remember for us?"