LOST WAR FILM FINDS NEW LIFE

Oscar-honored Kukan, rediscovered and restored, is screened in Los Angeles, reigniting memories of China-US alliance, Rena Li reports.

From the Oscar stage in 1942 to a forgotten reel in a photographer's basement, and now, a triumphant return at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the once-lost documentary Kukan: The Secret of Unconquerable China has come full circle.

On June 24, a restored version of this historic film — documenting China's heroic resistance during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) — was screened in Los Angeles, reigniting memories of a shared wartime alliance and a cross-Pacific cultural legacy.

Kukan, meaning "heroic spirit through bitter struggle" in Chinese, was one of the first American full-length color documentaries to receive an Academy Award. Filmed by American war correspondent Rey Scott and coproduced by Chinese American playwright Li Ling-Ai, the film offered a rare and visceral window into the front lines. It won a special Oscar in 1942, praised for its raw footage of wartime Chongqing and its emotionally powerful narrative.