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In late 1937, the city of Nanjing, then the capitol of China, was overtaken by forces of the Imperial Japanese Army, and as the city was occupied by Japanese troops, a wave of violence and destruction swept through Nanjing that lasted for the next several weeks. It has been estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 Chinese were killed by Japanese forces during the occupation, and arson, rape, torture and other acts of brutality were widespread. The tragedy became known as "the Rape of Nanjing" or "the Nanjing Massacre," but while the event is still remembered as one of the darkest periods in Chinese history, for years Japanese authorities refused to acknowledge that that massacre even occurred, or insisted that no more than a few hundred people died (though in time the Japanese government would admit the full severity of the occupation of Nanjing). Documentary filmmaker Michael Prazan offers a powerful and unflinching portrait of this infamous crime in Nankin: Le Memoire et L'oubli (aka The Nanjing Massacre: Memory and Oblivion), which features interviews with survivors of the Nanjing Massacre as well as photos and other historical documentation which define the true facts behind a disputed moment in history.