Gaining momentum...

I am so humbled to announce two more screenings of 'A2-B-C' in upcoming film festivals.

The first is in a festival that is dear to my heart, the Global Peace Film Festival in Orlando, Florida (September 17-22).  I had the honour of screening my film "In the Grey Zone" in Global Peace last year and wrote about the wonderful experience I had there on my blog (HERE).

Information on the screening of 'A2-B-C' at the 2013 Global Peace Film Festival can be found by clicking below:

I also have the honour of announcing the participation of 'A2-B-C' in the 2013 Newburyport Documentary Film Festival (September 20-22).  This small but beautifully curated festival takes place in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and details on the screening times and locations can be found  by clicking below:

 

On a roll...

Hot on the heels of the announcement yesterday of the Japan Premier of "A2-B-C" (details HERE), I am deeply honoured to be able to announce TWO MORE upcoming screenings of the film.

"A2-B-C" will be screened at the Guam International Film Festival on September 28 (screening details HERE).

"A2-B-C" will also be screened at the Cincinnati Film Film Festival (USA) which takes place from September 5-15 (screening details HERE).

May I spill the beans now, please?

Sometimes film festivals honour a filmmaker by giving them an "early decision"; that is, informing them that their film has been accepted into the festival long before the official announcement.  This can even be so early that when the festival offers this early decision they may actually still be accepting submissions.

While receiving an early decision from a festival greatly helps a filmmaker begin to make travel plans and preparations, it comes with a strict condition:  the filmmaker is forbidden to announce acceptance into the festival until after the official press release announcing the line-up of films is released by the festival itself.  This can mean a tough few weeks (or even months) of keeping quiet as a filmmaker knows about upcoming screenings but is not allowed to talk about them.  

So many people who have been supporting my work on 'A2-B-C' (WEBSITE) have been asking me when the film is going to be screened in Japan.  The truth is that I've known about the Japan premier of the film for a while now but have not been able to talk about it until today:

Today, on the same day as the North American Premier of 'A2-B-C' is being held (HERE), the official announcement of the full line-up of films that will take part in the 35th annual PIA Film Festival in Tokyo was made, and I am extremely honoured that among those films is the Japan Premier of 'A2-B-C'.

And watch this space:  there are at least a few more things that I'll finally be able to talk about over the coming days and weeks...

Social Studies

I was a relatively late bloomer when it came to social media; although I have had a blog for a few years, it wasn't until the March 11, 2011 disaster that I began to use YouTube and Twitter.  Still, I had resisted getting a Facebook page, worried that I might lose any remaining sense of privacy that I still had.

I finally broke down last year and established a Documenting Facebook page, although it remained largely untouched for the better part of a year as I struggled with balancing the time it would take to learn how to effectively use this new social media platform while making a new film.

Now that I have just confirmed the sixth (6th) screening of 'A2-B-C' in an international film festival *** that will take place over the next couple of months, I think it is the perfect time to start using the DocumentingIan Facebook as a place to offer up-to-date screening information and news about my work.  A link to the page can be found by clicking the picture below.  Please be sure to "Like" the page in order to receive news and updates.

***  Yes, you heard it here first:  thanks to all of your support and encouragement, 'A2-B-C' will be screened in at least 6 more international film festivals over the next couple of months!  Publication of acceptance into these festivals is under press embargo until the official announcements of the lineup of films are released, so unfortunately I can't name them yet (but a couple of them are quite BIG!!!).

North American premier of 'A2-B-C' just announced!

The North American premier of 'A2-B-C' will be held during next month's Rhode Island International Film Festival (August 6-11).

Details on the screening time and location can be found on the screening page by clicking the link below, where you can also "like", "Tweet" and "add to calendar" (PLEASE!).  Thank you so much for your support, encouragement and for helping to get the word out about the screening.

What's in a name?

もう一本の「A2」と言う映画があると言うことは最近分かりました（日本語のサイトここ）。国内のお客様は混乱されると困るので、私の映画のタイトルを変えさせていただきました。「A2」から「A2-B-C」になりました（ウェブサイト )。よろしくお願いします！

So, it's been brought to my attention that not only is there already a film called 'A2' (!) but it is documentary (!) that is relatively recent, having come out just 10 years ago (!).  And the film is also Japanese (!).  Oh, and it's about a murderous cult (!).

The other 'A2' (trailer HERE) is the second film by director Mori Tatsuya (the first one was simply called 'A') about the Aum Cult, the group responsible for the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo.

It didn't really bother me at first (and it still doesn't actually) that there is another film called 'A2' since there are lots of books and films that share the same name although they have no connection to each other.  However, I have recently received strong and reliable advice from some respected colleagues about changing the name of the film, at least for the domestic Japanese audience, in order to avoid confusion.

I have therefore decided to re-name 'A2'.  The new title is 'A2-B-C', which comes from the other classifications of thyroid cysts and nodules in the government's health survey of Fukushima children.

The trailer for 'A2-B-C' can be found on the newly updated website by clicking the image below.  I am currently in the process of reviewing offers from film festivals that take place over the next few months and will be updating the screenings page as I confirm the participation of 'A2-B-C'.

Typhoon season over

Today was only the second time my documentary film 'A2' (WEBSITE) has been shown in Japan.  The first time was at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan in May (HERE), and today was at Cultural Typhoon, "one of the largest events of Cultural Studies in Asia-Pacific Regions" (HERE).

Following the screening, I was honoured to take part in a panel discussion with directors Toshi Fujiwara ('No Man's Zone' WEBSITE) and Atsushi Funahashi ('Nuclear Nation' WEBSITE).  The topic of the discussion was "Representing Loss: the Ethics and Aesthetics of 'Fukushima' Related Documentary Films".

Speaking with Fujiwara-san (left) and Funahashi-san (middle)

It may be difficult to secure a public screening of 'A2' in Japan, but with the support of many colleagues who are lending their strength and influence, I will do everything I can to make it happen.  In the meantime, it felt so right that 'A2' should be screened at a university within the context of an academic conference.

Reflection

I am about to embark on a journey, though I do not yet know where I am going.

To mark this occasion, I asked my friend, filmmaker and photographer Adrian Storey, to take my portrait (Adrian's blog at Uchujin Films HERE).  

© Uchujin Adrian Storey 2013

While there may never be a "getting there", it is perhaps being open to the arrival of the journey itself that is in essence the "arrival"; for I believe that it is the journey to which we are called, not the destination.

May we all be open to the journeys that are presented to us in life, even those, no especially those, that lead us to places unknown.

Cinema Typhoon シネマ・タイフーン

I am extremely honoured to have been asked to take part in the 2013 Cinema Typhoon event at Tokyo Keizai University, July 13-14, 2013.  Three documentary films will be screened during the weekend-long event which will culminate in a panel discussion with the filmmakers led by Nicola Liscutin, from the University of Tokyo.  The three films all deal with some aspect of the Fukushima disaster, and the panel discussion will attempt to cover the following questions:

What are the motivations of the filmmakers?  In which ways might these films participate in the production of a public ‘Fukushima’ memory? How can they stem forgetting, when ‘disaster fatigue’ has already set in? Do these films affect, or seek to influence, anti-nuclear thinking and movements nationally and internationally?

My documentary, "A2", will be screened alongside Funahashi Atushi’s “Nuclear Nation” and Fujiwara Toshi’s “No Man’s Zone”, and it will be an honour to meet the directors of these films and to speak with them on the panel.

More information in English can be found on the Cultural Typhoon website HERE.

カルチュラル・タイフーン会期中の恒例である映画上映会「シネマ・タイフーン」、今回は＜記憶＞と＜表象＞をテーマとして、３本の映画を上映します。

『フタバから遠く離れて』、『無人地帯』、『Ａ２』・・・（日本語WEBSITE)

Mirror, Mirror

While in Fukushima this week, I have been visiting the parents, children and public figures who appear in my documentary, 'A2'.  I wanted to thank them for trusting me with their personal stories, and to share with them the news of our World Premier (HERE) and the feedback from the audience in Germany.

Mr. and Mrs. Shibuya had not yet seen 'A2', and so I brought the film with me when I visited their home.  When I met the Shibuya's last autumn, they shared with me the results of their children's thyroid examination results:  both their son, Ayumu, 12, and daughter, Mutsuki, 9, were found to have class A2 thyroid cysts (I wrote about meeting the Shibuya family last autumn HERE and HERE).

Mr. and Mrs. Shibuya watch a scene from 'A2' in which their children appear.

In my past experience with showing my films to the participants who are portrayed in them,  people understandably have tended to be really concerned about how they themselves appear in the film.  But with 'A2' it has been different: all the parents in the film are more interested in learning about the experiences of the other people in the film, people that are in similar situations as they are in but whom they have never met.  And perhaps more interestingly, the parents in 'A2' never seem to comment on how they themselves are depicted in the film.

When I met with Mr. Oouchi, a Fukushima City Councilman who appears in 'A2', I shared with him the news about the film and about what some of our future plans are (I wrote about interviewing Councilman Oouchi last autumn HERE).  I then asked the Councilman how he would like to use the rest of the time that had been allotted for our short meeting.  Would he like to see his own interview, I asked?

"I know what I said," the Councilman quickly replied, laughing.  "I want to know what the audience in Germany thought about the film."

I shared with Councilman Oouchi the video messages from the audience members in Frankfurt (video HERE).  All the way through, he kept nodding his head.

At the end of our meeting, Councilman Oouchi shared with me that he and his wife are expecting their third child.

Councilman Oouchi watches video messages from the audience in Frankfurt who saw 'A2'.

From Frankfurt to Fukushima フランクフルトより福島へ

During the Q and A following the World Premier of my documentary 'A2' (WEBSITE) at the 2013 Nippon Connection Film Festival, a member of the audience in Frankfurt asked if it was possible to contact the Fukushima mothers who in appear in the film so that she could share with them her thoughts and feelings about the film.

Later, in the lobby of the cinema, I filmed video messages from audience members who had just seen 'A2'.  They addressed the Fukushima families who appear in the film directly; their feelings were raw, and their words were real (VIDEO):

This week, I am in Fukushima, updating the families about the screening in Germany, the award with which 'A2' was honoured (STORY), and about the upcoming screenings and plans for the film.  I also brought them the video messages from Frankfurt.

The mothers, tears in their eyes, watched the messages intently and seemed to be holding on to each and every word being addressed to them from so far away.  I watched them, watching the video and found myself in awe:  something so much bigger than any single one of us would be able to accomplish on our own was unfolding right before us.

And the award goes to...

Each year, Nippon Connection gives out one award in each of three competition categories, and my documentary, 'A2' (WEBSITE), was nominated for the Nippon Visions Award (DETAILS).

NIPPON VISIONS AWARD
The NIPPON VISIONS AWARD will be handed out for the fourth time by an international expert jury. 12 feature films by new-coming Japan-based directors from the NIPPON VISIONS and the NIPPON ANIMATION sections will participate in the competition.

JuryKeiko ARAKI – director of PIA Film Festival, Tokio / Tokyo
Tetsuaki MATSUE - director, winner of NIPPON VISIONS AWARD 2010
Ken OKUBO – film critic, curator and professor at Tama Art University, Tokio / Tokyo

ニッポン・ビジョン賞
今年第4回目を迎える「ニッポン・ビジョン賞」は、国際的審査員により決定されます。「ニッポン・ビジョン」部門および「ニッポン・アニメーショ ン」部門の若手監督による12本の長編作品がノミネートされています。

審査員
荒木啓子　-　ぴあフィルムフェスティバル　ディレクター、東京
松江哲明　-　ニッポン・ビジョン賞2010年の受賞者
大久保賢一　-　映画評論家、キュレータ、多摩美術大学教授、東京

私のドキュメンタリー映画「A2」がニッポン・ビジョン・アワードに選ばれました。非常に光栄です！

I am so honoured (and shocked!) to be the recipient of the 2013 Nippon Vision Award for 'A2' (official notice HERE)!

When the jury read out their statement and said, "The award goes to 'A2' by director Ian Thomas Ash", I just couldn't believe it and kept shaking my head in disbelief.  I guess I was just so surprised (in a good way!) since this honour is usually given to a Japanese filmmaker.

I am so thankful for this recognition and know that this award will be instrumental in helping to get 'A2' out to a larger audience, both domestically within Japan and abroad.

Unfortunately, the recent news of more children in Fukushima being found to have thyroid cancer makes this topic ever more relevant (news story HERE).

Thank you all so much for your support, kind words, advice and encouragement.

With humble gratitude and peace,

Ian Thomas Ash
Frankfurt, Germany

PHOTO: Nippon Connection Film Festival © 2013

Filming the Filmmaker

Usually, I am behind the camera, but this week I have found myself being the one in the front of it.

Already I have been interviewed by one newspaper, two radio stations and for a documentary about Nippon Connection Film Festival itself.

I had the additional honour of being asked to speak on a panel about post-Fukushima films (INFO) that also featured Kiki Sugino, the lead actress and producer of the feature film Odayaka (WEBSITE) and Keiko Araki, director of the PIA Film Festival (WEBSITE) and one of the judges for the Nippon Visions Award for which my film 'A2' has been nominated (INFO).

Being interviewed for a documentary about Nippon Connection.

Speaking on the panel with Kiki Sugino (3rd from right) and Keiko Araki (far right).

Playing to a packed house

The World Premier of 'A2' (WEBSITE) took place last night in a full cinema in Frankfurt.  I was nervous, really nervous (one of my friends said I was "crawling the walls" before the screening), but it couldn't have gone more smoothly.

The theatre was packed, the audience was responsive, and the film looked and sounded great (it was the first time for me to see 'A2' on a big screen!).

People had come from all over to see the film (people from other parts of Germany, someone from Geneva and even someone from Italy!).  Several of the physicians from the Frankfurt chapter of IPPNW (LINK to my blog about IPPNW) also attended the screening.

During the post-screening Q and A, some of the people who watched 'A2' asked if they could send a video message to the families who appear in the documentary.  Later, in the lobby, I filmed their heart-filled messages of shock, solidarity and of taking action.

It was a huge honour to share the story of the children of Fukushima with the audience in Frankfurt, and I am so grateful to Nippon Connection (WEBSITE) for giving us this opportunity.  I know this will be a very important step to sharing the 'A2' with a larger audience.

'A2' in the official Nippon Connection catalog

'A2' screens to a packed house

Post-screening Q and A

Filming audience members' messages to the families who appear in 'A2'

Connecting with an audience

I am in Frankfurt, Germany for the World Premier of my documentary 'A2' at the Nippon Connection Film Festival.

Nippon Connection, which is in its 13th year, is the biggest festival of Japanese films held outside of Japan, and this is the second Japanese film festival in which one of my films has been screened, after 'In the Grey Zone' was screened in Camera Japan (Holland) last year.

This time 'A2' is in competition and has been nominated for the "Nippon Visions Award", and all of the other filmmakers, along with the judges, are Japanese.

This year Nippon Connection has moved to two new venues, and they are AMAZING!  One is a converted warehouse, and itself is a work of art (not withstanding the amazing films, events and installations taking place within).

The screenings at Nippon Connection are full and the audiences are really excited to be watching these Japanese films.  The program of films has been beautifully curated, and it is an honour to be screened here.

"A2" will screen on Friday at 20:15 in the Naxoshalle Kino.

Screenings at Nippon Connection are full with excited moviegoers!

Enjoying conversation and drinks (like Japanese beer and sake!) before a screening.

PERFECT COMBINATION. Inside this converted warehouse: awesome films. Outside: a beer garden.

'Ian's Kitchen' closes

For the last two years, I have been hosting a show on cable television.  In Season 1 (July 2011- March 2012), the show was called 'I'm Home, This is Ian' (loosely translated), and was an interview-based documentary program (more about that HERE).  For Season 2 (April 2012-May 2013) the producers changed the format of the show into a cooking show (!) called 'Ian's Kitchen' (that story is HERE).  

The documentary-style cooking show was extremely fun, and the cooking segments were peppered with interviews with the farmers that grew the ingredients for the dishes.  (One memorable episode is from last autumn about which I wrote in an entry called "In the Pumpkin Patch", part 1 HERE and part 2 HERE).

For Season 3, there had been talk of me getting a small plot of land and working with local farmers to grow the food that we would use on the program.  Unfortunately, however, I was informed last month by the producers that our contract was not being renewed for a third season.  It seems amid the down economy and budget cuts, the TV station had decided that funding local programming was too expensive and that they would start "buying in" more ready-made programs.

The last episode of 'Ian's Kitchen' has now been filmed and will air shortly.

But as they say, "when one door closes, another one opens" and I am looking forward to seeing what new adventure is just around the corner.  

I will close this chapter with some photos from a few of my favourite moments on 'Ian's Kitchen'.  In January of this year, I filmed two episodes on which my dad appeared as a special guest.  He brought with him a cookbook complied by my sister that contains recipes our family has enjoyed dating back to the time of our great-grandmother.  My dad also brought with him some photos of me cooking when I was so little I had to stand on a stool at the stove (!).

Working Vacation

I do lots of odd jobs in order to "pay for my habit" of documentary filmmaking.  I've made promotional videos, filmed backstage documentaries for DVDs of live music concerts and have even been known to step in front of the camera from time to time.

For the last three days, I have been so grateful to have been on one those rare jobs that feels more like a vacation than work.

Here for work, but the view and the fresh air are a much appreciated bonus!
仕事なんだけど、キレイな景色と、美味しい空気を吸えて、ラッキー!

My new friend!

My new edit suite... I wish!
僕の編集室・・・なんちゃって！

Morning Coffee.

Good night, sun!
お日さま、おやすみ！

Bring in the Clowns

In the more than two years since the nuclear meltdown, nearly all of my focus has been on documenting what is happening in Fukushima; and although I was aware of the weekly anti-nuclear demonstrations being held in Tokyo, I had never documented one.

Yesterday, I photographed the anti-nuclear rally held in Tokyo.

Actor Yamamoto Taro gives a speech

Banner reads: "Protect children from radiation"

A shopper watches as the anti-nuclear demonstration passes by

 

Headline from the AP News: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/japan-court-rejects-demand-evacuate-children

There was a strong police presence at the rally.

 

 

And this is my favourite photograph from yesterday:

Freshly Pressed

The preview screening and press conference of my feature documentary 'A2' (WEBSITE) was held today at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan (press release HERE).

There were a total of 88 press club members and their guests in attendance.  It was an immense honour to have my work screened by my colleagues, and an additional honour to have the opportunity to receive their questions during the press conference that was led by journalist Tetsuo Jimbo.

Photo: Chiemi Takahashi

One of the highlights of the press conference was when Mr. Mitsuhei Murata (pictured below), the former Japanese Ambassador to Switzerland, stood up to speak.  Last year I had the honour of hearing Mr. Murata give a press conference, and I have followed closely his work in trying to bring about transparency following the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima.  Mr. Murata complimented my film and then asked an interesting question:  Given the continued precariousness of the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima, do you think the government should be bidding to hold the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo?

Photo: Chiemi Takahashi

After the press conference, there was time to exchange business cards and speak freely with those in attendance.  There was talk of featuring my work in news articles, speaking at a local university and even of bringing the film (and me!) to Switzerland as part of an educational program.

I am so humbled and honoured at the interest in my work and am thankful for all of the support and encouragement I have received over the past two years.  Peace.