TOKYO -- A Japanese director plans a documentary blaming Chinese propaganda for reports that 200,000 people were slaughtered in Nanking during World War II.

Satoru Mizushima, director and producer of "Nanking No Shinjitsu," or "The Truth About Nanking," announced his project Thursday at a news conference in Tokyo. About 40 people, including two members of parliament, academics and film critics, came to the announcement to give him their support, the Japan Times reported.

Another documentary, "Nanking," was shown at the Sundance Film Festival last month in the United States. "Nanking" includes interviews with people who were living in the city in 1937.

A feature movie based on the Iris Chang book, "The Rape of Nanking," is in production.

Most historians believe the Japanese Imperial Army killed 200,000 Chinese in Nanking in 1937. Mizushima disagrees.

"I feel a huge responsibility to spread a correct understanding of history," the director said.