One of the more memorable incidents during the making of the film occurred on August 15, 2005, the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Li captured Japanese worshipers beating two student-like protestors they took to be Chinese.
A scene from Yasukuni (Photo from sina.com)
"I never expected to see such physical conflict inside the shrine," he said. "I hid behind the camera and was too nervous to adjust the camera lens. I hoped they wouldn't notice that I was the only Chinese there. The protestors' faces were bleeding, and they were Japanese."
What also went beyond his expectations was the period of shooting - ten years in total! In the very beginning, Li worked alone without any patronage, because of the controversial topic. During his worst financial period, Li was unable even to pay his apartment rent.
But some two years ago, the Beijing Zhongkun Group decided to invest 3 million yuan (about $380,000) to help Li and his crew. When the film was almost complete, Li managed to get a Japanese cultural fund. Li was quite moved when the fund reassured him that it would not withdraw its sponsorship during the period of controversy.
Fortunately, Li's hard work paid off. Yasukuni made a stunning debut at last year's Busan International Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter says that the film "is a penetrating documentary illustrating the complexity of Japan's war legacy" and "ignited passionate responses from the audience". Li and his work captured the limelight when the presidents of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and the 58th Berlin Film Festival invited him to attend.
At the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, viewers spoke highly of the documentary, saying that it did a good job striking middle ground between different points of view by simply telling the facts.
