3.11 Films

We each have our own way of trying to work out our thoughts and feelings about things that are not easily understood.

Seven months after the triple disasters of March 11, the first films about it are starting to appear.

One such film, "311", premiered recently at the 16th Busan International Film festival in Korea. The documentary was shot by four director friends shortly after March 11.

Survivors often act with a mixture of horror and fury when they see the cameras capturing their grief and Mori said the team was constantly forced to question just what they were doing -- documenting or intruding.

This year's Tokyo International Film Festival (currently taking place) features 3 films about the events of March 11 in a special category, "Overcoming the Disaster".

"Overcoming the Disaster" showcases three films related to March 11, and any money raised from the category goes toward TIFF's "Arigato Project" fundraiser for Tohoku. But the support goes deeper than just financial aid. TIFF is using the festival's unique program to acknowledge support from the international film festival community, and provide a bit of hope in stressing how far Tohoku has recovered since the slew of catastrophes.

In an interesting project organized by the Sendai Short Film Festival 2011, sixty directors have created short films 3 minutes and 11 seconds in length that will be programmed together. One section of this project aired last night on satellite television here in Japan.

The films will be three minutes and 11 seconds in length to symbolize March 11, when the disaster struck northeastern and eastern Japan... The directors were asked to make movies on the theme of "tomorrow" to inspire hope for the reconstruction of the devastated region.

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(added October 27th via @japantimes)

The documentary "Mujo Sobyo" recently held its North American premier in New York.

Shot 50 days after the earthquake on the coast of Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, the film captures the ravaged landscape and the voices of survivors calmly recounting their memories of the twin disasters. But the film purposely does not reveal the exact location or the names of the people and their backgrounds.