Film traces US writers' steps in wartime China

Nearly a century after his great-aunt ventured into war-torn China as a young journalist from the United States, Adam Foster has come to understand the profound impact of her work and how the bridges she helped build continue to inspire cross-cultural friendship.

Foster, chairman of the Helen Foster Snow Foundation, recently finished filming Bridge to a Shared Future, an hourlong documentary that was shot in China and the US. The movie traces the journeys of US journalists Edgar Snow and Helen Foster Snow and their coverage of China during the 1930s.

The long-form documentary follows Foster as he retraces the Snows' footsteps, exploring the enduring legacy of the couple's firsthand reporting during China's revolutionary era.

"I think it's time that we reflect on that, especially today. That's the only way you can really understand someone, by going to where they're from, meeting the people. And that's the legacy that they passed on to us," Foster said after Saturday's screening of the documentary at This Is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, the capital of the US state of Utah.

Edgar Snow made history as the first Western journalist to interview late Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Snow's book Red Star Over China provided early Western insights into China's communist movement. Helen Foster Snow also interviewed Mao and other Communist Party of China leaders during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and China's civil war. She was the author of more than 60 books and articles, including Inside Red China and My China Years.

The documentary, co-produced by the Shaanxi Tourism Group and the Helen Foster Snow Foundation, with support from other institutions, incorporates archival material from the Snows' travels and features personal accounts and insights from their descendants.

"These are the untold stories of history that now we have a chance to tell. I hope everybody gets the chance to learn that and watch this documentary," Foster said.

While growing up in Utah, Foster had heard stories about his great-aunt living in China as a foreign correspondent in the early 20th century. However, it wasn't until 2016, when he was invited to Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, to explore his great-aunt's legacy, that he fully grasped her significance.

"Everywhere I went (in China), everyone was so hospitable and kind," he recalled. "I finally understood that my great-aunt was famous in China."

Following another visit to China in 2018, Foster founded the Helen Foster Snow Foundation to carry on Helen's work as a cultural bridge builder. His recent three-week tour retracing her footsteps evolved into something deeper, which he described as "a journey of self-discovery".

"That was a unique experience for me as a spiritual journey, something that I'll never forget, that I'll be able to share with my kids, my grandkids, for the rest of my life," he said.

Tender moment

One particularly moving moment occurred in Baoji, Shaanxi, where Foster toured caves that had been hand-carved into the mountains during the 1930s and 1940s. These caves had sheltered locals from bombing during the war and served as underground factories where residents made clothing and blankets for soldiers.

"I remember we sat down with this man who gave us a tour of the caves. These caves went for miles into this mountain," Foster said. "I learned so much from these people. You could see in their eyes that they shed tears when they thought about their family members and what they had gone through. It was a very tender moment to be able to really connect with the local people there in China."

Helen Foster Snow is known as an initiator of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives, the Gung Ho movement, founded by foreigners in China in the late 1930s to help the Chinese produce materials in the war against Japanese aggression.

"The Gung Ho movement was all about bringing people together from different perspectives … to work on a common problem," Foster said. "I think the key to the US-China relationship is for us to find ways to work together, and Helen was the example."

Despite Helen Foster Snow's significant contributions, Foster said that many people in the US remain unaware of her story, even in her home state of Utah.

"People are surprised when they see the documentary. They had no idea that this young girl from Utah traveled across the world, with her own camera that her mother gave her, took some of the most famous pictures that have ever been taken: the leaders in the Red Army, the soldiers, the children," Foster said. "She did a great job telling the stories of women in China when nobody else did."

Bridge builder

Casey Williams, president of Paradigm Motion Picture Co, attended Saturday's premiere screening and praised the documentary's comprehensive coverage of Helen Foster Snow's life and work in China.

"Helen's life is vital to the relationship between China and the US. She was a bridge builder, and I believe she continues to be one," Williams told China Daily. "China and the US should always endeavor to be friends. We're two great nations that should be able to rely upon each other."

"Helen understood that and had a love for China," Williams added. "And because of that, China loves her, and we need her to continue to build bridges for the future."

Foster said he hopes that his foundation would raise awareness about this chapter of history, demonstrating that the US-China relationship has deep roots and that the two countries have successfully collaborated on many issues over the years.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com