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113838
Sun, 03/28/2010 - 10:44
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Trailer for Yamaguchi film kicks off 3rd annual Peace Film Festival
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NEW YORK, March 27 Kyodo -
A 20-minute trailer for an upcoming film about Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived
the atomic bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, was
shown Friday night to open the third annual New York Peace Film Festival.
''I think he must be so happy, just as he was happy in the United Nations four
years ago speaking out, and this film is definitely his wish,'' Hidetaka
Inazuka, the producer of ''Twice Bombed, Twice Survived, Part II,'' told an
audience of about 70 who attended the screening at the Japanese American
Association.
He was referring to his subject's compelling drive to share his experiences
with the world, in the hope that by retelling his story it would never be
repeated.
During the making of the film, the spirited 93-year-old died on Jan. 4, 2010
after battling stomach cancer.
Despite his illness, Yamaguchi continued to remain active. He even received
Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron and his friend Charles Pellegrino, the author
of ''The Last Train from Hiroshima,'' at his hospital when they visited him in
Nagasaki last December.
He managed to secure a promise from the ''Titanic'' and ''Avatar'' director to
one day make a film about the horrors of the atomic weapons that were used in
Japan.
Inazuka, who had produced an earlier film, ''Twice Bombed, Twice Survived,''
highlighted the survival stories of a small group of seven people, like
Yamaguchi, who had miraculously lived through not only the first bombing in
Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, but the second one in Nagasaki three days later.
Yamaguchi, however, stood out from the others as the oldest and first attracted
Inazuka's attention through the power of his words as a tanka poet.
As a 29-year-old employee of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Yamaguchi was
just 3 kilometers from the epicenter when the first bomb fell over Hiroshima at
8:15 a.m.
He had just stepped off a tram when he was knocked unconscious by the blast
after watching two parachutes drop from the sky.
Although traumatized and burned from exposure to the fall-out, he managed to
later catch a train back to Nagasaki to return to his wife and baby boy.
After a harrowing journey to his native Kyushu, he dutifully reported to work
on Aug. 9, just in time to witness the second explosion while recounting his
Hiroshima story to his supervisor.
Despite his experiences, Yamaguchi only became an activist in later life.
Inazuka explained to the audience that Yamaguchi's decision to ''come out''
coincided with his son's death at 59 from cancer after exposure to the bomb as
an infant.
The latest film takes up where the first one left off. It was initially
intended to focus solely on Yamaguchi and his efforts to educate others by
keeping alive the stories of the atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha.
In the second film there is footage of the elderly yet sprightly man walking
the streets of New York and energetically delivering a moving testimony at the
United Nations, where he wowed his audience by pledging to keep fighting for
the rest of his life.
Also captured were heart-felt presentations that the atomic bomb survivor gave
to high school students in Japan and in the United States. There was footage of
many teens in tears as they promised to carry on the fight against nuclear
weapons.
A frail Yamaguchi was also shown bonding with Cameron at his bedside, telling
him, ''I feel I have done my duty.''
Inazuka intends to complete the movie by July in time for a Nagasaki premiere
to launch the first ever Nagasaki International Peace Film Festival, modeled
after the one in New York.
''This is not the result, this is the beginning and this is what we got from
him, and like he said, a baton is being passed onto the next generation,''
Inazuka also explained.
He is now mulling over the direction to take. With Yamaguchi gone, he is
thinking about exploring the unique relationship he shared with his daughter,
Toshiko.
Yamaguchi's story has also given another 91-year-old two-time bomb survivor the
courage to come forward for the first time in 65 years, recounting for Inazuka
his own story as well.
The producer hopes to have an English version ready for a fall premiere in New
York City.
''Mr. Yamaguchi was our inspiration. He wanted to give us the message,'' Yumi
Tanaka, executive producer of the New York Peace Film Festival, told audience
members. ''Our duty is to pass on his words to as many people as possible.''
Asked when Cameron might work on a film on the subject,
Pellegrino, who also served as scientific advisor for ''Avatar,'' explained that the
timing was difficult to predict.
''I do know that it is something that he definitely wants to cover in the
future,'' he explained. ''Seeing that the double survivors are the bridge
between the two cities, (it is) the way to tell the story of the two cities,
but we just don't know when.''
Pellegrino also recalled his first meeting with Yamaguchi in 2008 and how they
struck up a friendship to the extent that he attended his funeral in Japan.
''I only knew him a short time but he had a huge impact on me,'' he added.
Explaining how Yamaguchi ''radiated kindness,'' the author said he always
admired him for choosing hope, instead of anger and depression, as a way of
dealing positively with his past.
Another audience member, nuclear researcher and disarmament educator Kathleen
Sullivan, also recalled the impact Yamaguchi had on her own life and how he
set an example to follow.
''It is brilliant to capture the testimony and the life of hibakusha and he is
clearly unique,'' Sullivan said. ''This film will help other people meet him
that did not have that opportunity, so that is really important.''
Others, like Taeko Takigami, learnt for the first time about the two-time
atomic bomb survivors, despite being familiar with other survivors' stories.
''His message reaches me because he doesn't raise his voice. It is definitely
not his anger, but his true personal story which is really powerful,'' she
noted.
After the opening party, the two-day festival begins Saturday, with a total of
nine films to be screened. Under the common theme of promoting peace and
disarmament, a range of subjects in countries such as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan,
the United States and Japan will be addressed.
==Kyodo
2010-03-27 23:40:18
NEW YORK, March 27 Kyodo -
A 20-minute trailer for an upcoming film about Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived
the atomic bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, was
shown Friday night to open the third annual New York Peace Film Festival.
''I think he must be so happy, just as he was happy in the United Nations four
years ago speaking out, and this film is definitely his wish,'' Hidetaka
Inazuka, the producer of ''Twice Bombed, Twice Survived, Part II,'' told an
audience of about 70 who attended the screening at the Japanese American
Association.
He was referring to his subject's compelling drive to share his experiences
with the world, in the hope that by retelling his story it would never be
repeated.
During the making of the film, the spirited 93-year-old died on Jan. 4, 2010
after battling stomach cancer.
Despite his illness, Yamaguchi continued to remain active. He even received
Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron and his friend Charles Pellegrino, the author
of ''The Last Train from Hiroshima,'' at his hospital when they visited him in
Nagasaki last December.
He managed to secure a promise from the ''Titanic'' and ''Avatar'' director to
one day make a film about the horrors of the atomic weapons that were used in
Japan.
Inazuka, who had produced an earlier film, ''Twice Bombed, Twice Survived,''
highlighted the survival stories of a small group of seven people, like
Yamaguchi, who had miraculously lived through not only the first bombing in
Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, but the second one in Nagasaki three days later.
Yamaguchi, however, stood out from the others as the oldest and first attracted
Inazuka's attention through the power of his words as a tanka poet.
As a 29-year-old employee of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Yamaguchi was
just 3 kilometers from the epicenter when the first bomb fell over Hiroshima at
8:15 a.m.
He had just stepped off a tram when he was knocked unconscious by the blast
after watching two parachutes drop from the sky.
Although traumatized and burned from exposure to the fall-out, he managed to
later catch a train back to Nagasaki to return to his wife and baby boy.
After a harrowing journey to his native Kyushu, he dutifully reported to work
on Aug. 9, just in time to witness the second explosion while recounting his
Hiroshima story to his supervisor.
Despite his experiences, Yamaguchi only became an activist in later life.
Inazuka explained to the audience that Yamaguchi's decision to ''come out''
coincided with his son's death at 59 from cancer after exposure to the bomb as
an infant.
The latest film takes up where the first one left off. It was initially
intended to focus solely on Yamaguchi and his efforts to educate others by
keeping alive the stories of the atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha.
In the second film there is footage of the elderly yet sprightly man walking
the streets of New York and energetically delivering a moving testimony at the
United Nations, where he wowed his audience by pledging to keep fighting for
the rest of his life.
Also captured were heart-felt presentations that the atomic bomb survivor gave
to high school students in Japan and in the United States. There was footage of
many teens in tears as they promised to carry on the fight against nuclear
weapons.
A frail Yamaguchi was also shown bonding with Cameron at his bedside, telling
him, ''I feel I have done my duty.''
Inazuka intends to complete the movie by July in time for a Nagasaki premiere
to launch the first ever Nagasaki International Peace Film Festival, modeled
after the one in New York.
''This is not the result, this is the beginning and this is what we got from
him, and like he said, a baton is being passed onto the next generation,''
Inazuka also explained.
He is now mulling over the direction to take. With Yamaguchi gone, he is
thinking about exploring the unique relationship he shared with his daughter,
Toshiko.
Yamaguchi's story has also given another 91-year-old two-time bomb survivor the
courage to come forward for the first time in 65 years, recounting for Inazuka
his own story as well.
The producer hopes to have an English version ready for a fall premiere in New
York City.
''Mr. Yamaguchi was our inspiration. He wanted to give us the message,'' Yumi
Tanaka, executive producer of the New York Peace Film Festival, told audience
members. ''Our duty is to pass on his words to as many people as possible.''
Asked when Cameron might work on a film on the subject,
Pellegrino, who also served as scientific advisor for ''Avatar,'' explained that the
timing was difficult to predict.
''I do know that it is something that he definitely wants to cover in the
future,'' he explained. ''Seeing that the double survivors are the bridge
between the two cities, (it is) the way to tell the story of the two cities,
but we just don't know when.''
Pellegrino also recalled his first meeting with Yamaguchi in 2008 and how they
struck up a friendship to the extent that he attended his funeral in Japan.
''I only knew him a short time but he had a huge impact on me,'' he added.
Explaining how Yamaguchi ''radiated kindness,'' the author said he always
admired him for choosing hope, instead of anger and depression, as a way of
dealing positively with his past.
Another audience member, nuclear researcher and disarmament educator Kathleen
Sullivan, also recalled the impact Yamaguchi had on her own life and how he
set an example to follow.
''It is brilliant to capture the testimony and the life of hibakusha and he is
clearly unique,'' Sullivan said. ''This film will help other people meet him
that did not have that opportunity, so that is really important.''
Others, like Taeko Takigami, learnt for the first time about the two-time
atomic bomb survivors, despite being familiar with other survivors' stories.
''His message reaches me because he doesn't raise his voice. It is definitely
not his anger, but his true personal story which is really powerful,'' she
noted.
After the opening party, the two-day festival begins Saturday, with a total of
nine films to be screened. Under the common theme of promoting peace and
disarmament, a range of subjects in countries such as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan,
the United States and Japan will be addressed.
==Kyodo
2010-03-27 23:40:18
