Shanghai TV launches book and DVD series for acclaimed documentary

A new book and DVD series featuring the international trials of war criminals in the Asia-Pacific region after World War II were launched Thursday morning in Shanghai.

Titled Asia-Pacific War Crimes Trials, the eight-episode documentary by the Documentary Center of Shanghai TV is the first non-fiction TV series that documents the trials of B- and C-level war criminals from Japan, according to Chen Yinan, the director of the series.

The Shanghai TV crew traveled more than 90,000 kilometers over 13 countries and areas across four continents to conduct interviews with 50 academics and 40 people, including the descendants of those who experienced the historical events. Most of the facts are being revealed to the public for the first time, Chen said.

The documentary series was first broadcast by television stations around the world, including Shanghai TV, SPB TV in Russia and Sinovision in the United States, after production was completed early last year. The show went on to win several awards, including the gold award in the history category at the 42 Telly Awards in the US.

The series will be broadcast again on the documentary channel of Shanghai TV and CCTV's Channel 7 starting on Sep 18.

The book of the same title was compiled based on the documentary series and published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press. The publication also contains entries from the director's journal which were penned during the filming process.