Indeed, it may take a little work to imagine the life of an elderly woman in her 90s as a youngster. Nevertheless, that dramatic contrast created by the flow of time is what Xu wants in the documentary, which will be screened nationwide on May 29. Its Chinese title, Jiulinghou (the post-90 generation), is also a play on words, leading the audience to think it is about those born after 1990.

However, through Xu's lens, 16 interviewees of Yang's age group collectively recall a wartime miracle and perhaps one of the greatest sagas of recent Chinese history. They are all alumni of the National Southwestern Associated University, or simply known as Lianda (the associated university), in Kunming, Yunnan province. Functioning from 1938 to 1946, it became a short-lived but everlasting name in Chinese education.

After Beijing and Tianjin fell to invading Japanese soldiers in 1937 during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), patriotic teachers and students from Peking and Tsinghua universities in Beijing and Tianjin's Nankai University decided to relocate their campuses in a show of determination and disobedience.