Inspiration from the past, vision for the future

Emmy-winning producer documents forgotten story to bridge the gap

Three-time Emmy Award-winning film producer Bill Einreinhofer has long been a bridge between the United States and China, forming bonds with both new and old friends. Whether traveling with film crews or sharing personal moments, his experiences have highlighted the deep connections between the two nations.

On a scorching August afternoon 20 years ago, Einreinhofer interviewed the oldest taxi driver in Shanghai. After climbing five flights of stairs in the heat, he was warmly welcomed and served a steaming cup of coffee.

Trying to be polite, he sipped it, but the family soon thought they "made a mistake" to their American guest. They quickly decided that what their American guest really needed on such a hot day was ice cream. The taxi driver's granddaughter dashed to a nearby store and returned with Wawa ice cream, which Einreinhofer said he thoroughly enjoyed.

"These people didn't need to do any of this. After all, I had arrived at their apartment and disrupted their lives. I was a stranger who they would probably never see again. But that was the whole point. I was a visitor from afar. Chinese hospitality insisted I feel welcome in their home," Einreinhofer said in his speech during the Vision China event in New York.

His new documentary Valor and Memory will air this November on PBS TV stations across the US and focuses on the complex historical relationship between the US and China during World War II, and a friendship build-up that has lasted between the two countries for decades.

"Last October I was in Beijing. I was amazed at the media coverage being given to two elderly American military veterans. They were members of a group called the Flying Tigers — American pilots who risked their lives to help China during World War II or The War of Resistance — as it is known in China. Everywhere they went, they were greeted as heroes. Here in America, they are pretty much forgotten," Einreinhofer said. He then decided to pick up his camera and document the lasting friendship.

The documentary comes as the current China-US relations have deteriorated.

"Now, more than ever, it is important for America and China to understand each other. That doesn't necessarily mean agreeing. Instead, it is each side having knowledge of how history and culture have brought us to this moment, and how potentially we can move forward," Einreinhofer said.

He has also made many new friends in China as he traveled and shared meals with filmmakers in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in Guangdong province. Some later sought his help as the only international producer and director they knew to take their programs globally.

"Almost accidentally, I became something of a 'bridge' between two countries and two cultures," he said.

Einreinhofer added through his interactions with film colleagues in China, "I really learned what it is like to live in China. You don't find that information in guidebooks or newspaper stories. Plus, if you are there long enough, you begin to experience that reality firsthand".