NEW YORK: An award-winning documentary about the massacre carried out by Japanese soldiers in the Chinese city of Nanjing is so vivid that it left many members of the audience sobbing uncontrollably when it was shown at a film festival here on Thursday.

The screening of the film, entitled Nanking (the old spelling of the city's name), at the Tribeca Film Festival coincides with the 70th anniversary of the invasion.

While some members of the audience shed tears silently in the theater, others sobbed out loud.