Press Conference, take two!

Following the sudden cancellation of all domestic screenings of my documentary 'A2-B-C' last month (INFO), the Foreign Correspondents'' Club of Japan (FCCJ) will be hosting a Screening and Press Conference about the issue on May 12 at 14:00 (INFO).  

This is almost exactly two years to the day that the FCCJ hosted a Screening and Press Conference about the film on May 13, 2013, ahead of its World Premier in Germany (INFO).  That the film is still making headlines two years later is testament to the effect that the story of these courageous mothers and children has had, and the cancellation of screenings of the film speaks volumes about media freedom in Japan post-Fukushima.

ドキュメンタリー上映と記者会見
イアン・トーマス・アッシュ、ドキュメンタリー映画『A2-B-C』監督
 
５月１２日（火）１４：００－１６：００
*１４：００－１５：１５ ドキュメンタリー上映/１５：１５：１６：００ 記者会見
（スピーチ、Ｑ＆Ａ：英語）

Ashland, no relation

The past few days at Ashland Independent Film Festival (AIFF WEBSITE) have been filled with some of the best films at one of the most hospitable film festivals I have ever had the honour of attending.  Held in the charming city of Ashland, Oregon (home of the Shakespeare Festival INFO), this little town is known for a cultural scene that is enormous.

The AIFF screenings and events are held at various venues most within walking distance of the town centre, and a filmmakers' lounge, daily events and nightly parties held with the sponsorship of numerous local businesses and organizations ensures that festival-goers are kept well fed and watered*.

* with plenty of local beer and wine!

Filmmakers' event at Noble Coffee

Accommodation for visiting filmmakers is generously provided by some of the beautiful local hotels, inns and B&B's.  I was extremely grateful to stay at Parkside Cottage adjacent to the gorgeous Lithia Park, which was designated as one of the top ten Great American Spaces by the American Planning Association in 2014 (INFO).  The neighbours were lovely.

The Parkside Cottage and its neighbours

Lithia Park

My film, '-1287' (WEBSITE), screened six times during the festival in one of the smaller theatres of the Varsity (INFO).  Screening in an intimate venue provided a wonderful space for post-screening discussions, and I am so grateful that rather than one single screening in a large venue that my film screened multiple times for a smaller audience.  It was such an honour to be able to attend five of the six screenings held during AIFF, where the audiences are intelligent, engaged and simply love film.

It was an additional honour that the five screenings of '-1287' I attended went into "rush" prior to the beginning of the festival, "rush" meaning that all tickets were reserved and seating was only available on the day if a ticket-holder did not show up (rush INFO).  Having multiple sold-out screenings prior to the start of the festival was something I had never experienced and was truly humbling.

The post-screening discussions were emotional, deep, discussions, filled with some of the most raw and honest questions I have ever had the honour of being asked.  AIFF places great importance on these Q&A sessions and schedules plenty of time between screenings so that they never feel rushed.  The discussion following the last screening of the film, which was held this morning before I left for the airport, lasted for over 40 minutes, and was the most amazing post-screening discussion I have ever had for any one of my films.

@ 2015 AIFF

@ 2015 AIFF

The Ashland Independent Film Festival staff, volunteers, venues, sponsors and audiences are some of the best in the world (and they have a great name, too*).  I am very much looking forward to attending a future edition of the festival, and with two films currently in production, who knows when that might be...

I am now at the airport on the way back home to Japan, and am looking forward to being home and to getting back to work filming.  Thank you all so very much for your continued support.

*  No relation. ;)

To remember is to have forgotten

Arriving in Lincoln on Tuesday I was honored to share a meal with, among others, Wayoro Madoka, director of the Kawasaki Reading Room, one of the sponsors of my visit to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  In the evening, we attended a recital by Doctor of Musical Arts student Masayoshi Ishikawa (program below and HERE).  I was first contacted by Ishikawa-san last year after he had learned of my documentaries filmed in Fukushima.  Originally from Fukushima, Ishikawa-san had been living in the US since before the March 11, 2011, disasters and had wanted to see the films about his home prefecture.

My films became one of the influences for his composition "Suite for the Forgotten", and in his introduction to the performance, Ishikawa-san referenced a scene from 'A2-B-C' (WEBSITE) in which a 17 year old high school student says that one of the biggest problems in Fukushima is that people are starting to forget what happened.  During the second movement of the suite, Ishikawa-san sat at the piano where he played and sang (chanted?) words from a 500 year old poem.  In it, a lover declares, "if you say you remember me, it means that you had forgotten me." 

It was a humbling experience to speak with Ishikawa-san after the recital and to hear how his work had been influenced by mine.  I have always felt that my role as a filmmaker is to record the voices and stories of the people I document, but to then have those voices interpreted into music was something I had never even imagined.  I am also so grateful to Ishikawa-san for bringing my work to the attention of the Kawasaki Reading Room and asking them to sponsor my visit and film screening (INFO), thus also enabling me to attend the recital.

********** START update April 18, 2015 **********

The video of the recital has just been uploaded here:

 ********** END update April 18, 2015 *********

Over the next two days, I visited four classes at the university including one for directing feature films, one public speaking and two that were using media to affect social change.  I always enjoy visiting classes and receiving questions from students about my work especially when asked through the context of what they are studying.  Often it is when I am asked how or why I do what I do that I begin to think about it deeply for the first time.  Having to verbally explain something forces you to order and to put into words what until then had only ever been thoughts.

Ishikawa-san graciously agreed to reprise the second movement of his suite following the screening of 'A2-B-C' last evening.  As the credits rolled, he began to play the first chords of his composition, the emotion in the film, in the room and the music joining together in a finite beauty that will only ever be known to the people who were present in that room and one that can never again be repeated.

I am now at the airport on my way to Oregon for the Ashland Independent Film Festival where the North American Premier of my film '-1287' is taking place (INFO).  As I think about how the film, documenting the last years of my friend Kazuko's life, is dedicated to her memory, I begin to hear Ishikawa-san's composition at first faintly in the distance, but then growing louder.  The mind works in mysterious ways.

Momentarily Losing Focus

In the midst of what can only be described as a challenging few weeks, my ability to endure some very stressful situations has been tested.  Forgetting an important appointment and misplacing the keys that I eventually found in my thrice-checked pocket (but not before missing my train) were sure signs I was reaching my limit. 

But when I could not find my camera while I was packing the night before an important interview in Fukushima two weeks ago, I knew my threshold for being overloaded was about to be crossed. Sinking to my knees, I knew that my camera had not been stolen but that I had left it somewhere... although I could not even remember the last time I had seen it, let alone where I might have left it.

Using my diary to reconstruct where I had been over the previous two weeks, I realized that I must have left it on the train ten days earlier.  Not only had I lost my camera, but it had taken me ten days to realize it (!).  The end to a much longer story is that with the help of a friend and through a series of phone calls, I learned that my camera been found and turned in to Japan Rail (JR).  Yes, one of the many reasons I love Japan!

But there was one hitch: after the camera remained unclaimed for a week, it had been turned over to the police.   I had left the camera on the train on the way back from my last trip to Fukushima where I had recorded a very sensitive interview, and I prayed that the registration of a lost camera did not include viewing the contents of the SD card!  At the police station, I was able to identify the serial number on the camera and after filling out several forms and showing my ID, the camera was back safely in my hands.  I am guessing they had not watched the footage...

Camera back in hand, I have refocused and am seeing a clear way forward.  Although 'A2-B-C' still can not be shown in Japan after the cancellation of all screenings of the film last month (INFO), I continue to search for a solution that will allow screenings to resume.  In the meantime, screenings abroad continue freely, and I am currently at the airport in Tokyo on my way to the US where 'A2-B-C' will screen at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Thursday (INFO).  I will also be visiting four classes to speak on topics such as civic advocacy, political engagement and the shifting media landscape.

On Friday I will fly to Oregon where I will be attending the North American Premier of my new film  '-1287' (WEBSITE) in the Ashland Independent Film Festival (April 9-13).  '-1287' will be screening six times during the festival (INFO).

Screenings of '-1287' will continue around the world with a visit to Taiwan in May and Germany in June (INFO)!  Thank you all so very much for your support!

Peace,
Ian
Tokyo, Japan

‘A2-B-C’ Screening Committee dissolved

The dissolution of the 'A2-B-C' Screening Committee in Japan was announced this evening (LINK).

This followed the recent cancellations of all screenings of the film in Japan.  I would like to thank the 'A2-B-C' Screening Committee for all of the work they have done until now to help raise awareness through organizing screenings of the film. 

This is not the end, it is simply an opportunity to begin again.

I thank you all for your encouragement and ask for your continued support.

DVD or Internet Release of 'A2-B-C' not possible

Although I have posted the following as a comment in several places, I feel the need to post it here as well.

People have messaged me asking if I can upload 'A2-B-C' (WEBSITE) to the internet in order to bypass the distribution system here in Japan, but there is a very important reason why that is not possible: I made an agreement with the families who appeared in the film that I would not upload it to the internet and that a DVD of the film would not be released in Japan. This was to protect them as much as possible from becoming the targets of harsh criticism for having spoken out in a country where, as the expression goes, "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down."

One of the main reasons I decided to sign with a distributor in the first place was to strengthen my ability to keep these promises that I had made with the families. As an individual it would have been difficult for me to prevent someone from uploading the film to the internet or selling pirated DVDs, but this became easier to control with the resources of a distributor.

Despite not being able to sell DVDs or release the film on the internet, typically two of the main sources of income for a distributor, they had agreed to take on 'A2-B-C' through an agreement with the 'A2-B-C' Screening Committee. The film had a theatrical release in cinemas across Japan which was then followed by dozens of private screenings organized by small groups, organizations and NPOs. Importantly, these private screenings provided a significant revenue source for the distributor, which served as an incentive to help keep the film off of the internet, thereby protecting the families to a greater degree.

Although some people may not see the difference between screening a film publicly and having it available online, releasing the film online would expose the families to even more harsh criticism than they are already experiencing and could lead to a very real concern for their safety. Despite the fact that 'A2-B-C' has only ever been available to watch in cinemas and privately organized screenings, the mothers in the film have already been the recipients of cruel bashing and internet bullying by often anonymous attackers.

One example of the outrageous attacks being made on the mothers who had spoken out about their concerns for the health and safety of their children was an article that attempted to discredit them and accused me of making the film for the express purpose of inciting discrimination against the people of Fukushima (I first wrote about this article HERE).

福島差別映画「A2-B-C」が国際的な“福島差別”を助長する (ここ）

Censorship? Self-censorship? 検閲? 自己検閲?

配給会社都合により、急遽「A2-B-C」上映中止せざるを得なくなってしまいました。

The Japanese distributor of 'A2-B-C' (WEBSITE), my documentary about children living in Fukushima, is cancelling all domestic screenings of the film.  They are also canceling the contract to distribute the film in Japan, despite there being more than two years remaining on the agreement.

It is not clear to me how much of this decision is the result of actual censorship and how much is self-censorship.  My feeling is that it is self-censorship based on the fear of a potential censorship problem at some point in the future.  If this is the case, then it is an example of the terrifying and wide-reaching effect of the Secrecy Law (INFO).  This law does not even need to be enforced for its effect to be felt: its mere existence causes people to engage in self-censorship, imposing on themselves the very crackdown that the drafters of the legislation had surely envisioned.

言論の自由は？

It is no longer possible to have honest, open discussions and debates about what is happening in Fukushima, and the cancellation of all domestic screenings of 'A2-B-C' is merely the symptom of a disease that has infected Free Speech in Japan.

The distributor is allowing the screenings in five locations across Japan that were scheduled to take place this weekend (Saga, Izu, Osaka, Nagano and Mie) to go ahead.  All screenings that were scheduled for March 16 or later have been cancelled, and while my plane was still in the air yesterday, the distributor had already contacted the organizers of all the affected screenings. 

３月１６日以降「A2-B-C」上映全て中止になりました。

I had already been planning to attend the two screenings in Nagano today, and the distributor has instructed me to publicly make the announcement about the cancellations here for the first time.  Inviting a few journalists to be in the audience, I am turning the Q&A into an impromptu press conference.  My hands are shaking as I post this entry and am about to walk out on stage for the first of the two post-screening discussions that will be held here in Nagano today and which will mark the last time I will see my film screened in Japan.

I have no idea what I am going to say, but I can assure you that any attempt to make me quiet will only succeed in making me louder.

Stunned. Briefly.

Although I was in Vancouver for the better part of three days, I did not really have the opportunity to see much of the city.  This is not a complaint, of course, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have visited so many countries with my films over the past few years; it is just that when I am asked, "Hey, how was it over in XX?", sometimes the only honest answer is, "Well, it looked a lot like the inside of a cinema."

I did have a little free time, and I visited the beautiful Museum of Anthropology (WEBSITE) which was just down the street from where I was staying.  And I even had a free evening that I was able to spend having dinner with long-time Vancouver-based friends.

I was invited to the University of British Columbia (UBC) by the Institute of Asian Research to screen my film 'A2-B-C' (WEBSITE) at the event "The ‘Triple Disaster’ in Japan on March 11 2011 - Four Years Later", which took place on the fourth anniversary of the disaster (INFO).

The special events marking the 3.11 disaster in Japan began with a minute of silence to remember those that died.  This was followed by the delivery of three presentations covering differing aspects of the disaster:

Affected Communities in Northern Japan Struggle for Recovery

Millie Creighton, Anthropology, UBC

Radiation Issues in Fukushima

David Edgington, Geography,UBC

Alternative Energy Futures in Japan

Andrew DeWitt, Rikkyo University

The screening of 'A2-B-C' took place in the afternoon in the Asian Centre, which is housed in the 1970 Osaka World Expo's Japan Pavilion having made its way to the UBC campus.

It was an honour to screen 'A2-B-C' for an audience that included UBC students and faculty, members of the community, Japanese expats living in Vancouver and even a few friends.  During the post-screening discussion, people asked about how the mothers are supported in their communities, how the film has been received abroad and in Japan, and about what I have been witnessing in my recent trips to Fukushima.

I also talked about some of the obstacles I faced early on in bringing this story to a wider audience and about some of the obstacles that I continue to face.  I never thought it was going to become easy, but I simply was not prepared for some of what is happening, like the internet bullying of mothers in the film.

Having to leave for this trip at a time when tensions surrounding the film were coming to a head and the distributor was feeling immense pressure was not exactly the best timing.  But part of me had also hoped that being out of the country and not attending any of the domestic screenings marking the 4th anniversary would provide a kind of cooling off period.  It has not worked out that way.

Now at the airport on my way home to Japan, I have just opened an e-mail from my distributor confirming that they have decided to go through with the action plan that they first talked with me about last Friday, the day before I left on this trip.  

I am stunned.  But it will be brief.  And when I land in Tokyo, it will be on my feet.

Intersecting

I traveled to San Diego with Kazumi Watanabe, whose NPO 'Mommy'z Tummy' (WEBSITE) has previously sponsored several screenings of 'A2-B-C' (website ENGLISH/ 日本語), and third year medical student Yo Konta, whose parents are both doctors in Fukushima.  Our plane landed at sunset, and the view, the weather and the air were perfect.

We were met at the airport by Yuko Hanaoka, Kazumi's sister.  Yuko works for Hanaoka Enterprises (INFO), the sponsor of the screening of 'A2-B-C' in San Diego (INFO), and we headed from the airport directly to their main restaurant "Hanaoka" for dinner and a meeting about the event.  We were joined by Nao Kabashima, the director of the Karen Organization of San Diego (INFO) which aids Burmese refugees living in the area, and her husband Fe.  Nao was to be the MC/ interpreter for our event.

Dinner at Hanaoka's was awesome and included sushi rolls that although I have never seen in Japan, I am sure would be extremely popular, especially among young people!  These included the spicy Fire Dragon topped with jalapeno peppers (!) and the Protein Roll made with no rice (PHOTOS below). 

The screening took place this morning at the Museum of Photographic Arts in the gorgeous Balboa Park (INFO).  In addition to sending out information about the screening to the more than 20,000 people on their mailing list, Hanaoka Enterprise's owner and chef Jun Hanaoka was at the park bright and early handing out flyers.

The screening room in the museum was beautiful, and I was floored when we arrived to find thirty young people who had volunteered to help with the event waiting for us.  Many of the volunteers were from Burma and were there through their connection with Nao's NPO.

Although no one knew how many people to expect at a screening that was to be held on a Sunday morning, 169 people were in attendance!  The volunteers joined the screening after the start of the event, making it a total of 199 people who saw the film!  We were all so grateful to be able to share this story with so many people of differing ages and backgrounds.

During the post-screening discussion, Ms. Watanabe and I answered questions about the current situation in Fukushima and about the work we are each doing now.  We were asked about the number of children now known to have thyroid cancer (over 100), and about the government's policy regarding the return of evacuees to their homes in areas that are deemed to have been decontaminated.  The most difficult question I was asked was about the cancellation of the March 1 screening that had been arranged by Ms. Watanabe (STORY) and about why a Disclaimer Statement had suddenly been published on the Japanese website of 'A2-B-C' (STORY).  Although I was able to explain the facts of the situation to the audience, that is to say to re-cap what I written on my blog and to read the Disclaimer to the audience, I apologized for currently not being at liberty to explain the matter any further.

The highlight of the event was when we called Yo up to the stage, and he shared about the nuclear disaster from his unique point-of-view: Yo's parents are both medical doctors in Fukushima, and he himself is a third-year medical student.  Yo had not seen the film before and he said that there were many things in it that he had never seen or known about, despite being from Fukushima. Sharing that he has friends who are doing decontamination work, Yo expressed sadness that many young people are in a situation where they are forced to risk their future health in exchange for money because there is not much other work and jobs in decontamination offer relatively good pay.

Immediately after the event, Mr. Hanaoka drove me to the airport so that I could catch a plane to Vancouver where 'A2-B-C' is screening this week in a symposium about the 3.11 Disaster at the University of British Columbia (INFO).  In the car, we talked about the interesting paths that our lives have taken: Mr. Hanaoka, originally from Japan, has lived more than half of his life in the US, and in just a few years, I, too, will have lived over half of my life abroad.  Having arrived with just $300 when he was 24, Mr. Hanaoka now owns multiple restaurants, the profits of which he is using to help support and raise awareness about issues that he cares deeply about.  These include programs as varied as the Karen Organization, and screenings like the one held today to help raise awareness about Fukushima, which through Mr. Hanaoka's support, was free and open to the public.

I am so grateful for the encouragement of so many people over the past four years, and ask for your continued support as the 4th anniversary of March 11 is marked this week and the 5th year is entered.  I will be documenting the situation in Fukushima for as long as I feel this is my calling and for as long as I am permitted to and am able.

And now I will close, having safely arrived in Vancouver in the middle of a crisp and clear night, the sky full of stars.

Disclaimer

This evening the distributor of my documentary 'A2-B-C' suddenly added a bilingual disclaimer to the Japanese website of the film (HERE).  It can be accessed by pushing the orange tab on the website front page.

The disclaimer (HERE), which is signed by me, states nothing that is new or surprising.

I have been committed for months to fly tomorrow to San Diego and then on to Vancouver for screenings of the film to mark the 4th Anniversary of March 11 (INFO), and so I will not be in Japan for the next week.

Documenting the March 11 disaster: four years on

It is hard to believe that the 4th Anniversary of the March 11 disaster, known here in Japan simply as "3.11", is approaching.

4th anniversary screenings of 'A2-B-C'

Over the next week and a half leading up to the anniversary, there are several international screenings of my documentary 'A2-B-C'  (website ENGLISH/ 日本語), including:

• Germany in Arnoldshain (March 3) and Dortmund (March 11)
• USA in San Diego (March 8), Kailua Kona (March 10) and U. of Hawai’i (March 11)
• Canada in Vancouver (March 11)
• New Zealand in Otago (March 13)

full list and links HERE

There are also domestic screenings of 'A2-B-C' being held all over Japan (国内上映スケージュルここ).  Yesterday was the first of these screenings, and it was not without controversy: I had to make the decision to cancel what would have been the first public screening of the film in Fukushima City just days before the event was to take place (story below).

Documenting 3.11: the first ten days

My journey documenting 3.11 started with the first entry I wrote (HERE) and a short documentary I filmed about panic buying in Tokyo a couple of days after the disaster (story HERE).  This was followed by several short documentaries posted in quick succession.  A compilation VIDEO of all of these early short documentaries that I edited together and posted for the 2nd anniversary is below, and the accompanying guest blog published by Discovery News is HERE.  The full collection of my early short documentaries about the disaster is HERE and all of the guest blogs I wrote for Discovery News can be found HERE.

3.11 changed the lives of so many people, including my own:

Documenting 3.11: One month later

After reading a newspaper article describing the government's plan to re-open schools near the zone 20-30km from the nuclear power plant just one month after the nuclear disaster, I traveled to Fukushima with friend and cameraman Colin O'Neill.  We documented the children living there, and soon after we returned to Tokyo we posted a four part "making of" documentary, beginning with this Video (part 1 below, all 4 parts HERE)

This would become my first feature documentary about the disaster, 'In the Grey Zone' (TRAILER below and website HERE):

Documenting 3.11: Six months later

Six months later while editing 'In the Grey Zone' in Japan with friend and colleague Ed Ison, Colin and I traveled back to Minamisoma City in Fukushima where we filmed an update that we posted in three parts (Part 1 story HERE and VIDEO below, stories about Part 2 HERE and Part 3 HERE, with all three VIDEOS HERE).

Documenting 3.11: One year later

For the 1st Anniversary of the disaster in March 2012, I filmed a three-part update about the children living in the 20-30km zone which I posted to my channel (Story Part 1 HERE, Part 2 HERE and Part 3 HERE, VIDEO part one below, all three videos HERE):

Documenting 3.11: Fifteen months later

A couple of months later, I returned to Fukushima, this time with friend and cameraman Koji Fujita, and in the summer of 2012 I posted two short films about the continuing nuclear disaster.  The first of these was 'Nuclear Refugees: the people of Iitate Village, one year later' (story HERE and VIDEO below):

The second short documentary I posted that summer was 'In Containment', a five-part series that documented some shocking revelations about life in Fukushima after the disaster and found me entering the no-go zone for the first time (VIDEO for Part 3 below and those for Parts 2, 3 and 4 HERE).  During the filming and editing of 'In Containment', I realized I was uncovering a story much larger story than just an "update", and that I had in fact started making a new film.  Parts 1 and 5 would eventually form the beginning of my second feature documentary about the Fukushima disaster, 'A2-B-C' (website ENGLISH/ 日本語).

 

Documenting 3.11: The children in Fukushima

I continued filming throughout the autumn of 2012 and early winter of 2013, focusing on the children and families living in Fukushima.  Posting the trailer in February of 2013 (TRAILER below), it was serendipitous that the last day of editing I did on the film before handing it off to Ed and Colin back in the UK to finish the post-production was on March 11, 2013, the second anniversary of the disaster (STORY).

Documenting 3.11: The story continues

In between the continuing international and domestic screenings of 'A2-B-C', I am currently filming the follow-up to 'A2-B-C', in what will be the third film in my series about Fukushima.  Thank you all so very much for your continued support and encouragement.

                                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First public screening of 'A2-B-C' in Fukushima City cancelled

Although the first public screening of 'A2-B-C' in Fukushima City was scheduled for yesterday, after careful consideration, I made the decision to cancel the screening late last week (「A2-B-C」の福島上映が已む無き事情により、中止となりました。ここ).  There were many factors that impacted my decision to cancel the screening on such short notice, and these included my feeling that the film could be shown safely and freely in Fukushima while both protecting the people in the film and those in attendance at the screening.  The fact that it was general consensus among the team and the screening organizers that this film about Fukushima could not be screened in Fukushima at this time says more about the current problems in Fukushima than the film itself.  Silence speaks louder than words.

The event in Fukushima, arranged by Watanabe Kazumi from NPO Mommy's Tummy (who has organized screenings of the film before like THESE ones in Kyushu), still took place.  A film about Chernobyl was screened in place of 'A2-B-C', and this was followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Konta (GP) and Dr. Kobayashi (psychiatrist) with whom I have been filming and presenting occasionally over the last year (STORY).

Yesterday's event began with me apologizing for the sudden change of program and accepting responsibility for the cancellation.  Not knowing what kind of situation I would be walking into, I had felt sick to my stomach all morning.  Interestingly, no one seemed surprised that the film could not be shown, and I felt something that seemed like relief in the room when the announcement was made.  Or was that just me...

After the event in Fukushima, we all headed for the city of Sendai, the epicenter of the 3.11 earthquake, where 'A2-B-C' was screened so successfully that after the stress of having to cancel the screening in Fukushima it was almost surreal.

One of the scariest parts of the current situation in Fukushima is a thickening atmosphere of not being able to speak out, or share one's thoughts, or have a healthy debate.  Self-censorship is endemic.  And silence, like radiation, can be an invisible killer.

Talking film

Last night I spoke at the Japan Visual-media Translation Academy (JVTA website HERE) about making documentaries in Japan.  The event (TRAILER and posters below) was aimed at students of subtitling, but was open to the public.

I first met Mr. Ishii and several of the Japan-based JVTA staff at the 2013 Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival in Germany, where JVTA sponsors the Nippon Visions Award.  I received the award that year for my film 'A2-B-C' (STORY), and the rest, as they say, is history.

The talk last night was moderated by Mr. Ishii, who had spent a lot of time watching my films so that he could share clips and guide the conversation.  It was really fascinating for me to see how someone views the entire body of my work and to hear about the connections they draw between the different films (websites and trailers HERE).

It was a great honour to have so many students, colleagues, and even a few friends present and engaged in the work that I do. 

The next time I will be meeting Mr. Ishii and the JVTA staff will be not in Tokyo, but in Germany at the 2015 Nippon Connection Film Festival, where the German premier of my new film '-1287' (WEBSITE) will take place (more info on that soon!).  I am so grateful for their continued support and look forward to our future collaborations.

Choosing the Edge

As the 4th anniversary of the March 11th disaster approaches, screenings of my documentary 'A2-B-C' continue.  On Thursday morning in Japan (Wednesday evening in the US), I joined the screening of the film held during the 2015 Global Film Festival held at William and Mary College, Virginia, USA (INFO).  This year's theme was "Film and Renewal" (INFO).

Photo by friend and filmmaker Adrian Storey (WEBSITE)

On Thursday and Friday, the final classes for the course I am teaching at the University of Tokyo were held (INFO).  Part theory and part filmmaking, the students' final film projects were screened at a mini film festival on Friday evening before their peers and a panel of three international film and media specialists.  I was extremely proud of the students' achievements and grateful for all that I learned through the opportunity to teach on this course.

The Komaba campus of the University of Tokyo

I brought my students' final papers with me to the airport on Saturday morning so that I could read them on the plane as I was off again for more screenings, this time in Shimane Prefecture.  'A2-B-C' was screened in two cities, Ota and Hamada.

After the first screening in Ota, I joined filmmaker and event host, Mr. Hanada, who has also filmed extensively in Fukushima, on stage for a discussion about our work and a Q&A with the audience.  I have written here many times before about how I really prefer to be close to the audience rather than onstage, and as soon as we sat down I knew it was not going to be a good discussion if we remained there.  Asking Mr. Hanada if we could join the audience, I headed for the stairs.  Perhaps both he and the audience thought I was going to remain at the base of the stage, but I there was a perfect place to stand right, an aisle in front of the first row where there were people sitting, and so there was some nervous laughter when I stood so close to the audience.

It turned out to be one of the best Q&A's I have done in Japan.

Moving on to the city of Hamada, the screening was followed by a panel discussion led by Mr. Hamada with Dr. Kanda, from the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine at Shimane University, and Ms. Kajitani, who evacuated to Shimane with her children following the nuclear disaster.

Although the discussion was extremely interesting and informative, it was also slightly staid, and when it came time for the Q&A, I jumped up from my chair and made a beeline for the edge of the stage.  In this life when I am given the choice of the comfort and relative safety of an office chair or a cold, hard edge, I always seem to be choosing the edge...

Swords Into Ploughshares

Sitting next to where I sleep is a small statue depicting a verse from Isaiah that my father gave to me at Christmastime.

And they will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war. HERE

Fashioned out of recycled material taken from decommissioned nuclear warheads, the statue not only depicts the breaking of a sword about to be turned into a ploughshare, but is itself an example of such a re-purposing: an instrument of war transformed into a message-giving piece of art.

Rising tensions in the Middle East are entangling more countries, most recently Japan with the release of videos depicting the killing of two Japanese citizens who were being held by ISIS.  While the murder of these two men (and so many countless others) is terrible and shocking, the reaction of Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe only served to increase the shock of so many peace-loving people in this nation: Abe vowed revenge* and then appeared to be using these killings as justification to continue his attempt to amend Japan's pacifist constitution. **

Yesterday, a Peace Rally was held to remember Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa, the two men killed by ISIS, and it should be noted that it was a Peace Rally that took place and not a demonstration.  At the Peace Rally, a friend of the humanitarian and journalist Goto-san was quoted as saying: “I think the onus is on us all to keep his wishes for peace alive".***

ISIS uses killings as a weapon to draw more countries into the conflict.  By vowing revenge, Prime Minister Abe plays directly into the hands of ISIS succeeding only in further involving Japan in a war that it can never win.  But I believe that Goto-san would never have wanted that, that he would have asked for his own killing to be transformed into a renewed call for Peace.  And that is what the attendees at yesterday's Peace Rally have done: Swords into Ploughshares.

* "Departing From Japan’s Pacifism, Shinzo Abe Vows Revenge for Killings" by Martin Fackler (Feb 1, NYT) HERE

** "Abe Is Said to Have Plans to Revise Pacifist Charter" by Martin Fackler (Feb 5, NYT) HERE

*** "Goto, Yukawa mourned in spontaneous gatherings nationwide" by Yoshiaki Miura (Feb 9, Japan Times) HERE

Family, Love and Health. And Red Wine!

The inaugural Snowtown Film Festival (WEBSITE) took place this past weekend in my hometown of Watertown, NY, and it was an honour to have my short documentary "Even the Birds Need to be Loved" screened in the short films strand (INFO). 

It was an additional honour to receive a Filmmaker's Award, and although I was not able to make the trip from Japan to be in attendance at the festival, my longtime friend (and former boss!) Rebecca, read out my statement:

Although I am not able to be at the inaugural Snowtown Film Festival in person as I am in Japan, I am there with you in spirit.  I was born in Watertown, and although we moved around a lot when I was child, I returned as a teenager where I graduated from Watertown High School.

Watertown is where I had so many “firsts”, the experiences in my youth that helped to form who I have become.

I had part time jobs in Watertown like waiting tables, working in a restaurant kitchen, and I even delivered singing telegrams there for a time.  I attended Jefferson Community College, where I continued to learn from experiences in the classroom, part-time jobs and leadership opportunities.

It is therefore a great honour and privilege to have one of my earliest Japanese-language short films “Even the Birds Need to Be Loved” screened and recognized at Snowtown Film Festival in my hometown.  Thank you all so very much for your continued support and encouragement.

The Uno’s, the elderly couple documented in the film, are both well and still very much in love.  May their story remind you of what is most important in this life: Family, Love and Health. And Red Wine!

An article about the festival and awards published in the Watertown Daily Times (Feb.1) can be found HERE.

In other news...

Today I had the honour of speaking at Sophia University, Tokyo, for Professor Mori Yoshitaka's class "Globalization and Culture".  I had not seen Professor Mori since I had the honour of speaking at Tokyo University of Arts last summer with fellow filmmaker and friend Adrian Storey about making films in Japan (STORY).

During the semester-long class, the students focused on themes such as exporting Japanese culture abroad, issues of free speech and freedom of the press.  Today was their last session, and I was honoured to share with the students about my work which Professor Mori described as "a great example of the cultural practice in the age of globalization."

After talking about my films and showing the trailers of 'Jake, not finished yet' (2010, VIDEO), 'A2-B-C' (2013, VIDEO), '1287' (2014, VIDEO) and THIS VIDEO I edited for the 2nd anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, it was time for students to ask questions.  A young woman raised her hand and asked, "If you were Prime Minister Abe, would you pay the $200 million ransom to ISIS in exchange for releasing the two Japanese hostages they are threatening to kill?" (NYTimes story HERE)

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A friend recently was looking online for information about my newest film, '-1287' (WEBSITE) and found some reviews of the film that I had yet to see.  Reading them, my deep sense of responsibility to share this story with as many people as possible was renewed.

After the showing of the film, one of the audience members (while sobbing) said, "I'm so sad and can't find words because I feel like someone I knew has just died." That may sound a bit too dramatic if you haven't seen this film, but I shared this sentiment, and so did the rest of the audience, I'm sure. I couldn't stop crying. It wasn't so much about her death itself that made me cry— instead what moved me was how she lived and the tender and honest conversations she had with the filmmaker, Ian Thomas Ash.

 --- The Lost Note Book Returns Film review: Ian Thomas Ash's "-1287" (READ)

With this documentary, Thomas makes death approachable, something you can bare to stare in the face if only for a short while, and that is definitely an experience worth having.

--- Raindance Film Festival – Review + Q&A -1287 (READ)

アメリカ人監督がガンに侵された日本女性を追った記録映画が登場 (記事)

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Recently, I have also received the news that my short film 'Even the Birds Need to Be Loved' (STORY) will be screening in the inaugural Snowtown Film Festival in my hometown of Watertown, NY (January 30 and 31, WEBSITE).  Having been completed shortly before the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the film has only been publicly screened twice, both times in side events for the Lake Champlain International Film Festival (story HERE).  The screening at Snowtown will therefore be the first official screening at a film festival.

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As the fourth anniversary of the March 11 disaster approaches, screenings of my film 'A2-B-C' continue strong.  I am extremely honoured that the film continues to find an audience and contribute to the ongoing campaign to raise awareness about the situation in Fukushima.

Screenings are scheduled to take place in multiple cities across Japan (in Japanese 上映スケジュールここ) and upcoming international screenings can be found HERE, including:

• February 11, 2015 at William and Mary College
• March 8, 2015 in San Diego
• March 11, 2015 at the University of British Columbia
• March 11, 2015 at the University of Hawai'i
• April 9, 2015 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

2015 has only just been begun, but it is already shaping up to be a busy year with more exciting news to come...

No respect

Over the weekend, I attended screenings of ‘A2-B-C’ (website ENGLISH/ 日本語) for the third time in Kyushu.  The first time was in Usa (STORY) and Nakatsu (STORY), and the second time was in Fukuoka and Oita (STORY), while this time I was in the City of Beppu, perhaps best known for its multitude of natural onsens, each with their own unique characteristics.

Arriving in Beppu on Saturday, Mr. Kotegawa, the organizer of the screenings, gave me a “Tour of Hell”, the name given to the onsen hotsprings district, including the “Lake of Blood”, “Sea Hell” and “Shaven Head Hell”.  The area is also known for a variety of delicacies cooked over the “Steam of Hell”, baskets of food, such as hard-boiled eggs and pudding, being lowered into or hung over the pits of steam.

In the afternoon, Mr. Kotegawa took me for a “steam bath”. On the floor of a little hut built directly over one of the “Steams of Hell” was a grate covered with medicinal grass upon which we laid naked side-by-side, in a fashion not unlike the puddings we had eaten earlier (!). After 10 minutes, the limit that one is recommended to remain in the steam, we crawled back out on our hands and knees through the small wooden door, where we then washed the sweat and grasses from our bodies in a hot spring. This was followed by a “mud bath”, where, still naked, we swam around in a large pit filled with a mixture of mud and hot water that was bubbling up directly from the inner depths of the earth. Awesome.

On Sunday, there were two screenings of ‘A2-B-C’ held in a beautiful theatre purpose-built for Kabuki plays. Lining the sides of the theatre were traditional box seats, while the main seating area was a “pit” in which each guest sat on thin cushions called "zabuton".

The Q&A sessions lasted for over an hour each, and together there were over 150 people in attendance at the two screenings. Topics we talked about included my thoughts about Japan’s investment in the 2020 Olympics while there are still so many people in Fukushima living in temporary housing (I think it is shocking), if I drink water/ eat local food when I am filming in Fukushima (I do), and whether I am making a new film in Fukushima (I am). I also addressed the fact that I prefer not to be referred to as a "director".

Traveling with my films over the past year and half, it would have been easy to become caught up in what I can only describe as the artificial and fleeting moment of being a “film director”. But “director” is a word that I feel should be used for truly great makers of fiction films, such as Director Kurosawa.  The word “director” (especially as it is used in Japanese), while a gesture of respect, creates a gap, something like a class divide, between the person who uses it and the person about whom it is being used. If I thought of myself as a “director”, or worse, if I were to act like a director, then I feel I could no longer make films as it would change the relationship I had with the person I was documenting resulting in a film that would be lacking in both depth and compassion.

'A2-B-C' has been merely a vehicle for helping to share the voices and stories of these families in Fukushima, but it is the mothers themselves who are the ones that are worthy of respect, having spoken out despite the very real fear of retaliation and alienation.

So, please, just call me "Ian".

When a screening is are over, I reminded the audience in Beppu, both the film and I leave to go home. But what remains is the desire within the people who have shared in this story to help those who have been affected by this great disaster. I have documented a problem, but it is after the film is over and the lights go up that the real work begins.

I was extremely happy to see many students in the audience, both from local high schools and Asia Pacific University (APU) located in Beppu. Several APU students and faculty approached me after the screening and expressed their interest in holding a screening at their university, and it is my sincere hope that this will take place.

It was also wonderful to see many familiar faces from my previous visits to Kyushu, and I was once again reminded of how grateful I am for this continued support. Thank you all so very much! Until we meet again…