The Forgotten Force

The Dawn of Kaiju Eiga(es)

Japan, 1954. A legend emerges from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, devastated by atomic bombs in 1945. The creature's name is Godzilla. The film that tells its story is the first of kaiju eiga, the giant monster movies.

Hiroshima Mon Amour(fr)

The deep conversation between a Japanese architect and a French actress forms the basis of this celebrated French film, considered one of the vanguard productions of the French New Wave. Set in Hiroshima after the end of World War II, the couple -- lovers turned friends -- recount, over many hours, previous romances and life experiences. The two intertwine their stories about the past with pondering the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on the city.

Hiroshima(ja)

Historical fiction about the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, and its effects on various civilians, especially children, of that city.

Barefoot Gen(ja)

A story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.

Tokyo Phoenix(fr)

In 150 years, twice marked by total destruction —a terrible earthquake in 1923 and incendiary bombings in 1945— followed by a spectacular rebirth, Tokyo, the old city of Edo, has become the largest and most futuristic capital in the world in a transformation process fueled by the exceptional resilience of its inhabitants, and nourished by a unique phenomenon of cultural hybridization.

Atomic Wounds(en)

At 89, Doctor Hida, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bomb at Hiroshima, continues to care for some of the other quarter of a million survivors. Atomic Wounds retraces his dedicated journey and highlights how the terrible danger of radiation was concealed by successive American administrations in the 50's - 70's so that nuclear power could be freely developed, with no concern for public health.

Hiroshima(en)

The documentary recounts the world's first nuclear attack and examines the alarming repercussions. Covering a three-week period from the Trinity test to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the program chronicles America's political gamble and the planning for the momentous event. Archival film, dramatizations, and special effects feature what occurred aboard the Enola Gay (the aircraft that dropped the bomb) and inside the exploding bomb.

Twice: The Extraordinary Life of Tsutomu Yamaguchi(ja)

Tsutomu Yamaguchi is a hibakusha. A survivor of both atomic bomb blasts in 1945. First at Hiroshima, then again at Nagasaki. Now nearing 90, Yamaguchi finally speaks out. Breaking taboos of shame and sorrow, he responds to a call to fight for a world without nuclear weapons by telling his story, so that no one else will ever have to tell one like it again. Twice reconstructs Yamaguchi’s experiences in 1945 Japan, interviews him on the after-effects of exposure and documents the last five years of the late-blooming activist’s life.

Hiroshima, the next day(en)

Girls in Summer Dresses: Hiroshima, August 6, 1945(ja)

In 1945, the second- and third-year students of a Hiroshima girls' school are taken away to work in war factories. The remaining 220 girls of the first year try to make the best of their new-found status as the only teenagers in an almost deserted town, even amid the deprivations of wartime. On the seventh of August, an American bomber changes their lives forever. Broadcast on the 43rd anniversary of Hiroshima in memory of "the girls who lost their lives to the atom bomb." (Source: Anime Encyclopedia)

History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess(ja)

Postwar Japan as it is described by Etsuko, the manager of a bar catering to foreigners in Yokosuka. The way of life of a woman brimming with vitality, who skipped the countryside right after the war and, with her womanhood as a weapon, lived through atomic bombings, black markets, prostitution aimed at American soldiers and the Korean War. Inserting newsreels, Shohei Imamura depicts the history of twenty-five years in the Japanese postwar by way of the female body. (doclisboa)

Pride(ja)

Based on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East of 1946–48, depicts Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo as a family man who fought to defend Japan and Asia from western colonialism but was ultimately hanged by a vengeful United States.

200,000 Phantoms(fr)

In 1914, the Czech architect Jan Letzel designed in the Japanese city of Hiroshima Center for the World Expo, which has turned into ruins after the atomic bombing in August 1945. “Atomic Dome” – all that remains of the destroyed palace of the exhibition – has become part of the Hiroshima memorial. In 2007, French sculptor, painter and film director Jean-Gabriel Périot assembled this cinematic collage from hundreds of multi-format, color and black and white photographs of different years’ of “Genbaku Dome”.

The Beginning or the End(en)

The research, development, and deployment of the first atomic bomb, as well as the bombing of Hiroshima, are detailed in this docudrama.

Shadow of Fire(ja)

In the black market, a war orphan is confronted with the struggles of people living in the immediate aftermath of WWII.

Three Stripes in the Sun(en)

A racist sergeant stationed in post-war Japan finds himself softening towards the children and falling for a local woman.

Atomic People(ja)

Combining personal accounts with archive footage, this film features the voices of some of the only people left on earth to have survived a nuclear bomb.

The Thick-Walled Room(ja)

A group of rank-and-file Japanese soldiers are jailed for crimes against humanity, themselves victims of a nation refusing to bear its burdens as a whole.

The Day They Dropped The Bomb(en)

On August 6 1945, one plane dropped one bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. In an instant, the city was destroyed and 80,000 people were dead. But the dropping of the Atomic bomb also launched the Nuclear age, shaping all of our lives and changing the world for ever. For this film we have tracked down people who made the bomb, people who dropped the bomb, and people who were in Hiroshima – some less than half a mile from ground zero -when the bomb fell on their city. Many of the witnesses are in their 90s and this will be the last time they will be able to tell their extraordinary stories. The Day They Dropped The Bomb is told through witness recollections, rare archive film and photographs shot at the time. The documentary will be broadcast for the 70th anniversary of Hiroshima next year by ITV and in America by the Smithsonian Channel.

Hero's Island(ja)

Set in post-war Okinawa, Japan, Gusuku had 3 close childhood friends: On, Yamako and On's younger brother Rei. On was the oldest of the group and he was like a leader to everybody else. He was also a heroic figure to them. On led his friends into the U.S. military base and they stole supplies to give away to the local residents. Everybody in the neighborhood praised On. One night, they entered the U.S. military based to steal supplies. During their raid, On was chased by U.S. soldiers and went missing. Years later, Gusuku now works as a police officer. Yamako is an elementary school teacher. Rei is a member of the yakuza. These three people are still unable to get over the disappearance of On. They chase after the truth behind On's disappearance and uncover a shocking answer.

Prisoners of Propaganda(en)

In 1943, the Imperial Japanese Secret Service made a film called Calling Australia! to show the "exemplary conditions" under which prisoners of war were kept, and to "soften up" the Australian public for the anticipated occupation of their country by Japanese forces. Prisoners of Propaganda tells why the film was made, and how it came to be forgotten.

Almost Elvis(en)

Almost Elvis is a searing documentary that chronicles and attempts to explain the cult of personality that is the Elvis impersonator. Filmmakers tail a handful of Elvis impersonators from around the country who are all vying to win the 1999 Elvis World Championship in -- where else? -- Memphis, Tennessee.

The Love Letter(en)

Parker, a successful advice columnist, and her best friend Aaron have been inseparable since childhood. She knows everything about him, including the fact that he doesn't love his fiancé. Desperate for help, Parker pens an anonymous letter to her own column asking for advice. Unexpectedly, she learns about her own feelings instead.

Geisterkatzen (1)(de)

My Mother, a War and Me(de)

1942, and a spectacular wartime birth in the depths of winter: a young russian nurse unexpectedly goes into labour and, all alone and in freezing temperatures, gives birth to her daughter Tamara in a field on the banks of the Volga. The most personal film to date from co-directors Tamara Trampe and Johann Feindt is dedicated to Tamara's own family history. The search for her unknown father who, as a russian officer, made the young nurse pregnant, is complicated by the fact that her mother has never come to terms with her wartime trauma and worn family photos only seem to show happy-go-lucky life before the war. But the director won't give up so easily and, through a mixture of personal childhood recollections and conversations with relatives and former nurses who were on the front in Ukraine, she puts together the pieces of the puzzle.

HERO...(en)

A loner finally gets out of his boring routine while having a bath.

Old Mother Riley, MP(en)

Old Mother Riley loses her laundry job and then battles her ex-boss in a parliamentary election.

Please Don't Abandon Me(es)

In the last years Helena has been living a happy life with Jesus, her boyfriend. But she has a dark and problematic past dealing with drugs and emotional issues. When she discovers something that makes her think their relationship will end, an avalanche of insecurities, anxiety and mental instability provoke a violent outburst that changes everything. Regular life at home and at work doesn't seem to be easy when a crime has occurred.

This Man Is Mine(en)

The seemingly happy relationship between Tony and Jim is threatened when his manipulative, seductive former fiancee visits.

Pappu Can't Dance Saala(hi)

One time bickering neighbors are forced to share the same apartment. The cultural clash between traditional-orthodox-India and modern-urban-India. The collision of two cultures creates havoc in the beginning but finds a peaceful co-existence, at the end. An orthodox boy from the holy city of Banaras, is forced to stay with a chorus dancer in Bombay... The film does the journey of these two opposite personalities and how, after the initial phase of rejection, they find each others place in their respective lives.

Utamaro's World(ja)

Utamaro was an artist who lived in Edo (which was later to become modern-day Tokyo) in the late 18th century. This film, which has a complex and wide-ranging storyline, recreates the world of that time, as it appeared in Utamaro's paintings.

Beauty Evil Rose(cn)

A beautiful stranger, Yan-Hong (who is one of the Roses), wanders into Inspector Liang's office, takes her gear off, then turns him into a zombie-servant of the Evil God. Policeman Cheng tries to get his wife, who is also an Inspector and his boss, in the mood for sex, but she handcuffs him and walks off. Ah-Kong and his sister, Sao Mui, are out for a stroll. Ah-Kong is also trying to stop his lovely wife Mannie from posing for nude modelling. Yan-Hong is arrested by Cheng and is interrogated, then she reports to her superior, the leather-clad Dai-Jeh ("Big Sister"), who practices her evil laugh and hands out a whipping as punishment. Later, a dozy Taoist priest is called in to exorcise the Beauty and her Evil Roses. The priest fails, but lays the groundwork for the final showdown between good and evil.

John, Paul, George and Ben(en)

This humorous and factual history of five lads who grew up to become Founding Fathers brings the early days of American history to life with sass and substance, in Lane Smith's inimitable style.

Ratón en Ferretería(es)

Adonai Flores, an experienced writer of telenovelas, falls in love with Belén Helena, a girl of low class. Adonay, desperate to keep her with him, abandons his responsibilities and even his dog. After discovering that she is a drug dealer he decides to leave her and recovers his dog

Tigullio minore(it)

In the Tigullio region near Gênes this shortdocumentary shows the funeral of a local fisherman.

The Telephone Girl and the Lady(en)

D.W. Griffith short intercuts two different stories before mixing them together at the end. The film focuses on a telephone girl who leaves work for her lunch break at the same time as "The Lady" goes to a jewelry store to pick up some priceless jewels. When the telephone girl returns to work she gets a phone call from the house of "The Lady" as a robber has broken in and is trying to steal the jewels.

Between Summers(sv)

Torun and Mikael have been married for a few years. When vacationing on the Danish coast, their young son Melker accidentally drowns. Torun initially blames her sister, who was supposed to supervise her children. Later she turns her anger and grief against her husband. Since none of them know what to do with their feelings, they start to drift apart.

Tom Thumb in the Land of the Giants(en)

A bizarre adventure in which a young boy is chased by a masked phantom holding a severed arm in a graveyard. A man with one arm appears and is handed the severed arm by the phantom. Then a giant woman appears enveloping the boy. An unsettling and delirious apocalyptic atmosphere pervades the movie, designed as a trailer for a "film of the future."