New documentary seeks out stories of CPV veterans

Photo: Courtesy of Mango TV

It has been 70 years since the end of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53). Over the decades, a number of documentaries have been made to remember the veterans of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) army who fought in the war and gave their all to defend our motherland. Most of these stories have been told from the veterans' perspective with historical materials as support. 

But a new documentary being aired on Mango TV and Hunan TV is making a new attempt at something different. The documentary Chao Shikong Xunzhao, or Searching Beyond Time and Space, sets "searching" as its narrative core as it walks into the stories of the heroes who fought the  war from the perspective of six young people today. 

These guests not only retell the stories of their grandparents, but also help their grandparents fulfill their dreams like "returning" to the battlefield or "reuniting" with the brothers with whom they shared foxholes through high-tech technology such as VR. 

"For CPV veterans, the motherland is their family. If you want to protect your family, you must guard the motherland," Sun Lu, the documentary's producer and director told the Global Times on Saturday. "Starting from everyone's small family best interprets the expression of 'defending home and country.'"

The war that took place 73 years ago seems too distant from us. Although these young heroes have grown old, their stories and their actions are "still full of vigor" and can reach the "bottom of the hearts of every Chinese" and "move billions of people."

Over six months, Sun and her crew traveled through 12 provinces and autonomous regions from Central China's Hunan and South China's Guangdong provinces to Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and talked with more than 60 CPV veterans to bring the stories of six groups of 18 veterans to the small screen. 

Most of the production team members were born in the 1990s. Most of their knowledge about the veterans who fought in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea came from textbooks, novels and movies, which helped them learn about martyrs like Huang Jiguang and Qiu Shaoyun and the bravery of those soldiers and how cruel war could be. 

 "However, we know very little about why those young soldiers close to our age made such choices and what they experienced on the battlefield," Sun said.

What made her even more anxious was that this "search" was a race against time as many of these old people have left the world forever with their stories untold. During the research process, the team received news of the death of several veterans. 

"The speed of their departure was much faster than we imagined. We should only hurry up and record their stories as soon as possible. For something, if you don't do it, you won't have a chance," Sun added.