Fukushima

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda(ja)

Oscar winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto weaves man-made and natural sounds together in his works. His anti-nuclear activism grew after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and his career only paused after a 2014 cancer diagnosis.

The Great Wall of Japan(en)

After the disaster of March 2011, the Japanese authorities decided to build a gigantic 15 meter high, 500 kilometer long, anti-tsunami wall, separating the land and the ocean. But what is the environmental and human impact of this wall? The population is divided on their opinion: should they cut the island off from the sea or stay vulnerable to tsunamis? Is there another way?

Mothers of Fukushima: Eiko & Yoshiko(ja)

Eiko Kanno is a 79 year old grandmother whose life has been completely changed by the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. Her life should have been with her grandchildren but because of the disaster which caused her entire village of Iitate to be evacuated. She now lives by herself in temporary housing. Yoshiko Kanno and her extended family are very important to her changed life. Yoshiko Kanno lost her parents in the evacuation and she found herself living next door to Eiko Kanno. They entertain themselves by telling jokes to each other like a comedic duo. They now live together.

The Horses of Fukushima(ja)

Fukushima's Minami-soma has a ten-centuries-long tradition of holding the Soma Nomaoi ("chasing wild horses") festival to celebrate the horse's great contribution to human society. Following the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the wake of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, local people were forced to flee the area. Rancher Shinichiro Tanaka returned to find his horses dead or starving, and refused to obey the government's orders to kill them. While many racehorses are slaughtered for horsemeat, his horses had been subjected to radiation and were inedible. Yoju Matsubayashi, whose "Fukushima: Memories of the Lost Landscape" is one of the most impressive documentaries made immediately after the disaster, spent the summer of 2011 helping Tanaka take care of his horses. In documenting their rehabilitation, he has produced a profound meditation on these animals who live as testaments to the tragic bargain human society made with nuclear power.

Reflection(ja)

Eerie images of landscapes after the Fukushima nuclear disaster shot on black and white 8mm.

Uncovering Fukushima(en)

It follows a group of investigators as they return to the nuclear zone in Fukushima to uncover the secrets behind the wildlife that has claimed the toxic environment as its own.

Chernobyl, Fukushima: Living with the Legacy(fr)

30 years after the Chernobyl catastrophe and 5 years after Fukushima it is time to see what has been happening in the “exclusion zones” where the radioactivity rate is far above normal.

Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie(en)

"Trinity and Beyond" is an unsettling yet visually fascinating documentary presenting the history of nuclear weapons development and testing between 1945-1963. Narrated by William Shatner and featuring an original score performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, this award-winning documentary reveals previously unreleased and classified government footage from several countries.

My Camera and Tsunami(en)

The story of a camera that perished in a Tsunami. The Film shares special moments that the Filmmaker experienced with his camera, a special bonding over a period of four years, creating cinematic imagery, relating, exploring, seeking and interpreting notions of his reality. It is a memory of a camera which perished in the tsunami, along with its last filmed footage – elusive images, evoking multiple possibilities, seeking parallels and new perspectives.

Koi(ja)

There's no definitive separation as long as there is memory'. Since the Tsunami hit the northern part of Japan's coast in 2011, more than 20 thousand people lost their lives, and many others are still missing. As time went by the families of the victims abandoned all hope and stopped looking for their loved ones. However, this is the story of two men that are still fully committed to their respective searching activities. Even though their backgrounds are extremely different, both share a strong force of will and firmly wish to keep alive the memories of the ones that went missing. Perseverance is what pushed an ex-convict to look for redemption by helping the victims' families to find the remains of their loved ones, and perseverance is what brought a bus driver to start to dive in order to search for his wife.

After the Wave(en)

The Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 was the most devastating natural disaster in modern times, killing 228,000 people across 13 countries in just a few hours. AFTER THE WAVE tells the untold story of this epic forensic operation in Thailand to identify and return home the bodies of over 5,000 victims, both locals and holidaymakers from around the world. Led by a crack Australian team, the best forensic specialists from around the world were in a race against time to give back every victim their identity. Creating forensic history, the international team’s mantra from the outset was ‘we will take them home’, a seemingly impossible ambition but one that almost succeeded. In this film forensic science intersects with powerful stories of survival and loss, attempting to make some sense out of a tragedy so bewilderingly complete that nearly a decade out it still seems far-fetched to most of us.

The Next Mega Tsunami(en)

Ten years after one of the most deadly tsunamis ever known, scientists are making a shocking discovery. Experts used to believe that the biggest killer waves were only generated in a handful of regions, but mounting evidence now suggests that more of the world’s coasts, from the Mediterranean to Australia, could be in grave danger. But where will the next Big One strike?

Alone Again in Fukushima(ja)

“Alone Again is Fukushima” is the long-awaited sequel to "Alone in Fukushima" (2015), which followed Naoto Matsumura, a man who remained in the nuclear zone in Fukushima to tend animals. The film has followed Naoto for nearly a decade and portrays how Naoto and the animals survived the residents' return to the town, Tokyo Olympics, and COVID-19. In the course of 10 years, many animals and humans were born and died. But Naoto remained in the town and took care of the animals. He raised chickens and kept bees in order to survive. In 2017, Tomioka became the place where people can come back to live, however most young people didn’t return. There is no end in sight for the nuclear crisis in Fukushima. The contaminated water is overflowing and will be pumped out to the ocean soon. Meanwhile the government is trying to restart the nuclear reactors all over the country. The film will give us a chance to reflect on this situation by looking at how Naoto and animals survive in Fukushima.

Tsunamis, du mythe à la réalité(fr)

Fukushima, chronique d'un désastre(fr)

Japan's Tsunami: How It Happened(en)

An investigation by Professor of Geological Sciences, Roger Bilham, of the science behind the earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011.

311(ja)

Two weeks after the earthquake, writer and movie director Tatsuya Mori, journalist Takeharu Watai, movie director Yojyu Matsubayashi, and movie producer Takuji Yasuoka, headed for the disaster stricken area, not thinking this film would become a production. "Only to confirm the situation" was their common objective.

Nuclear Rescue 911: Broken Arrows & Incidents(en)

Since 1950, there have been 32 nuclear weapon accidents, known as "Broken Arrows." A Broken Arrow is defined as an unexpected event involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft or loss of the weapon. To date, six nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered.Now, recently declassified documents reveal the history and secrecy surrounding the events known as "Broken Arrows". There have been 32 nuclear weapon accidents since 1950. Six of these nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered. What does this say about our defense system? What does this mean to our threatened environment? What do we do to rectify these monumental "mistakes"? Using spectacular special effects, newly uncovered and recently declassified footage, filmmaker Peter Kuran explores the accidents, incidents and exercises in the secret world of nuclear weapons.

Contaminated Home(en)

Ten years after Fukushima nuclear accident, a familiy returns every month at their home to measure the radiation with a Geiger counter.

Savagely, silence(ja)

December 21, 2015. The image of a fox was captured by a camera inside the unit 2 building at Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant... A film-essay about contemporary Japan in the aftermath of March 2011 earthquake.