Under a Bamboo Sky – A Unique Film Honouring the More than 22,000 Australian POWs of the Japanese
MEDIA RELEASE
More than 22,000 Australians were taken prisoner by Japan during World War Two, with some 8,000 dying due to extreme brutality, forced labour, starvation, and disease.
Launching in cinemas nationally ahead of Anzac Day is a new documentary which shines a light on a little-known aspect of this story, told through the voices and words of those who were there.
Imprisoned across Southeast Asia and Japan, they endured forced labour on projects such as the construction of the Burma-Thailand ‘Death Railway’ with its 40 percent mortality rate, and in factories and coal mines in Japan and other occupied territories under extremely brutal conditions.
While Singapore’s Changi Prison was the major internment camp and symbolises the experience of Australian prisoners of the Japanese forces during World War Two and is often described as horrific, prison camps in Borneo, Ambon, Hainan and along the Burma-Thailand Railway were more brutal where our POWs experienced rampant disease, starvation and high death rates.
Under a Bamboo Sky, is a unique, new Australian movie production described as a tale of human connection, hope and resilience in the face of great tragedy. It employs new technology to bring to life the unbelievable story of Australian soldiers held prisoner by the Japanese in World War Two.
Produced by WildBear Entertainment, it uses the words and voices of more than 60 former POWs recorded between 1999 and 2004, some 50 years after the events. It weaves their recollections with newly colourised archival material and new location footage to deliver an intimate and poignant first-hand account of their collective experience.
The film will be premiered in Canberra on Wednesday 25 March, at a function hosted by the Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL), prior to its national cinema release.
RSL Australia National President Peter Tinley AM said the RSL was honoured to support the production and host the premiere of this important presentation of an often horrific but inspiring and not to be forgotten part of Australia’s military history.
“The POWs endured terrible hardships, malnutrition, disease and illness and brutality,” Peter Tinley said.
“While their stories may be hard to hear, they should never be ignored or forgotten. Under a Bamboo Sky follows the long journey of these soldiers from Singapore, enduring slave labour building the Burma-Thailand Railway, shipwrecked at sea, and sent into factories and down coal mines in Japan.
“After witnessing some of World War Two’s most defining events, they tell of returning home to families, wives and sweethearts after years away, and of the price they paid for the trauma they endured.
“But their resilience, courage, ingenuity, good humour, and mateship prevailed and in the worst of circumstances and surroundings, the Anzac Spirit, first forged by their forefathers at Gallipoli in World War One, shines through.”
Peter Tinley says Under a Bamboo Sky is must see viewing. “Changi, the Burma-Thailand Railway and the POW experiences, including witnessing the destruction of Nagasaki by the Atomic Bomb in August, 1945, are essential parts of Australia’s history, and this movie communicates that story in a unique and emotive way.
“The film’s release, coming not long after the 80th anniversary of the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945 that ended the Second World War, sees the POWs sharing their stories as an act of remembrance for all Australians and for generations to come,” Peter Tinley said.
