On June 17, during the 26th Shanghai Film Festival, Alibaba Pictures' 2024 Chinese Blockbuster Tour was held, and the official concept poster of "Dongji Island" was released. It is expected to start shooting on June 24, and the shooting period is expected to be more than five months.

According to the Weibo post released by “@电影东极岛”, the film was directed by Guan Hu and Fei Zhenxiang, written by Chen Shu, Zhang Ji and Dong Runnian, and starred by Zhu Yilong and Wu Lei.

Concept poster of "Dongji Island"

The film is based on a true story from World War II: In 1942, a Japanese cargo ship "Lisbon Maru" carrying more than 1,800 British prisoners of war was torpedoed by a US submarine in the waters near Zhoushan Islands. Fishermen from Dongji nearby risked their lives to rescue more than 300 British soldiers, and protected and rescued 3 British people during the large-scale search by the Japanese army. This period of history is called the "Lisbon Maru Sinking Incident" or the "Lisbon Maru Rescue Incident."

Readers who want to learn about this period of history can first watch a documentary film called "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru". The film was screened as the first film of this year's Shanghai International Film Festival on June 14. The documentary took seven years to make. Director Fang Li, an expert in marine technology, led a crew to visit the UK, the US, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, China and Zhoushan to find a lot of information and conduct detailed historical research. This film combines on-site interviews, precious historical images, and animations that restore the events to reveal the truth of this historical period that has been lost for 82 years.

Poster of The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru