It is directed by Wang Genfa and Zhang Zhenhui, and voiced by Cui Jie, Zhao Jing and Ma Shaohua.

The children form strong friendships and have adventures as they try and fend off the Japanese army occupying the city, and their allies, the Nazis.

In the background, the Second Sino-Japanese War takes place, while the children must face the uncertainty that concerns the fate of Rina and Mishalli's parents in Europe.

Back in the 1940s, the children Rina and Mishalli, European Jews sought refuge within Shanghai Ghetto, having escaped the Nazis in their home Germany.

During the Second World War, approximately 20,000 Jewish refugees fleeing German-occupied Europe were given an area of approximately one square mile in the Hongkou District of Shanghai by the Japanese Empire, designated the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, one of the poorest and most overcrowded areas of the city.

Following the end of the Second World War, many Jews who had sought refuge in Shanghai returned to Europe or decided to settle in countries with much larger Jewish populations, such as the United States and Palestine.

[4] Wu had previously lived in Los Angeles, and he based the character of Mishalli on Jerry Moses, a Jewish American friend, originally from Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland).

[4] Wu has stated that his main reason for making the film was to let children know about what really happened, and to promote the story and the history so that people all over the world can learn from it.

[2] Wu first created a A Jewish Girl in Shanghai as a graphic novel, published in 2008 by East China Normal University Press.

The graphic novel has been described as a "great success" by Wu, selling 4,000 copies in the first six months since its release, though, as it was only published in English, its Chinese market was naturally limited.

[11] The film's subtitles in English were noted as containing a few mistranslations and mistakes, including the anachronistic use of the word "badass".

[2] Wu himself has said that the film is "both true and untrue" in that it is a composition of fiction and history; "the main characters were all based on real prototypes...I can't promise it's 100% accurate, but I think it fits the background of the time.

"[4] The clothing of the Jews was notably inaccurate, especially in Europe, where the orthodox Jewish mother is wearing slacks and a T-shirt.

Most famously, 6,000 Lithuanian Jews were saved by Japanese Vice-Consul Chiune Sugihara in Vilna, many of whom live through the war in Shanghai.