British director telling story of Chinese Titanic survivors

When the giant ship slammed into an iceberg, like other third-class passengers the eight Chinese were released from the locked gates at last, but not allowed to board the lifeboat. Luckily, four of them boarded a small broken boat, and one was rescued by another lifeboat. Another one, Fang Lang, floated on a piece of the ship’s wreckage in the sea. The only returning lifeboat saved him from freezing.

To restore their overlooked stories, Jones and his team found the son of Fang Lang in Wisconsin, US, after searching through China, the US, Britain and Canada. In May, Jones will visit Taishan city in south China's Guangzhou province, recorded as the survivors' hometown. The filmmakers also established a website, whoarethesix.com, for more clues.

Ordinarily, people think of Titanic as a story of rich white people, but don't know there were people from all over the world, including Chinese. Their stories are never told, Jones said.

The documentary The Six is expected to be released in China late this year.

The names of the eight Chinese on Titanic were recorded as Fang Lang,Lee Bing, Ali Lam, Chang Chip, Choong Foo, Lee Ling, Ling Lee and Len Lam.

South China Morning Post and thepaper.cn contributed to this story.