Oct 23, 2007, 12:32 GMT
Los Angeles - Steve Buscemi (Fargo) and Daniel Bruehl (Good Bye, Lenin) have joined the cast of John Rabe, a movie based on a true story about a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.
Steve Buscemi, pictured, (Fargo) and Daniel Bruehl (Good Bye, Lenin) have joined the cast of John Rabe, a movie based on a true story about a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38 © Anthony G. Moore / PR Photos
Variety reported that the film, which began shooting last week in Shanghai, boasts an international cast that includes France's Anne Consigny, Chinese stars Lu Huang and Zhang Jingchu, and Japan's Teruyuki Kagawa and Akira Emoto.
German actor Ulrich Tukur (The Lives of Others) portrays Rabe, a Nazi party member and Siemens executive who was able to create a safety zone within the city to protect civilians from Japanese atrocities, which claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000 civilians.
Buscemi plays real-life American Dr Robert Wilson, who remained in Nanjing during the occupation to care for legions of victims.
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