Film on German hero in China stirring debate

The director of a new film about an unsung German engineer who helped save 200,000 Chinese in Nanjing from Japanese troops said he hoped it would spark debate and help Japan come to terms with its past.

Florian Gallenberger, whose film "John Rabe" is based on a true story of the courage of a Siemens executive during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, said his film could also, belatedly, shed light on Rabe's long-overlooked heroism.

"We're fully aware the film could be explosive in Japan," said Gallenberger, whose native Germany has also faced sometimes turbulent reflection on its Nazi past in the wake of films on the Holocaust and Hitler decades later.