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)