"The Girl and the Picture" wins top doc award

'The Girl and the Picture' wins top doc award

 

“The Girl and The Picture,” USC Shoah Foundation’s documentary about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, has won the Impact DOCS Award for Outstanding Achievement, it was announced Thursday.

The film tells the story of Xia Shuqin, who, along with her younger sister, witnessed the murder of their families in the horror that would become known to the world as the Nanjing Massacre. John Magee, who was documenting the atrocities, filmed the little girls standing in front of the broken remains of their family home, creating evidence of the carnage and binding his family and theirs forever.

“The Girl and The Picture” was directed by Academy Award winner Vanessa Roth, who also served as producer and writer. It was produced by USC Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen Smith and Devorah Palladino. Ceci Chan and Andi Gitow served as executive producers.

The film brings together brings together two direct descendants of this history as Madam Xia, at 88, shares her memory with her granddaughter, her seven-year-old great grandson and with Chris Magee, the grandson of the missionary who captured her image eight decades earlier. The Girl and The Picture brings to light the power of memory to bridge generations and create a shared legacy of family, loss and survival.

The Impact DOCS Awards goal is to discover and honor the achievements of filmmakers who produce high quality documentaries. Impact DOCS puts filmmakers first and provides a direct opportunity for recognition and publicity for high quality productions. It is international in scope and has granted awards to producers in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Palestine, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, and the United States.