As a Scientist
(“Kagakusha toshite”)- Director: HONDA Takayoshi
1999 Japanese Subtitled in English Color Video 84 min
Production Company: Toyama Creative Office
Producer: HONDA Takayoshi
Photography: HONDA Takayoshi
Editing: HONDA Takayoshi
Music: OKAMOTO Masahiko
Sound:International Sales: Toyama Creative Office
205 Kasai Bldg, 573 Tsurumaki-cho, Waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo JAPAN
Phone: 81-3-3269-3729
Fax: 81-3-3269-3729
E-mail: toyama@amail.plala.or.jp
[Festivals and prizes] Yamagata IDFF ’99
[Synopsis] Portrait of a committed research scientist who sides with citizens’ groups to protest state policy.
In 1992, the Ministry of Welfare decided to move Japan’s National Institute of Health to a new site in central Tokyo, a residential area. There are voices of opposition from neighborhood residents who fear a danger of contamination from pathogers and toxic chemical substances. Among the scientists working in the Institute, there is just one, Arai Hideo, who admits to the inherent dangers. While continuing to work within the lab, he commits himself to cooperating with the citizens’ groups. Arai is a quiet mild-mannered man and no hero, but his strong conviction makes one think about the social role of scientists, particularly in this age of nuclear accidents and bio technology.
| HONDA Takayoshi
Born in 1968. Graduated from Hosei University. Began making films while a student. Main works include: Deaf Director—A record of a deaf person, Stepping on Shadows. In 1996, 1997, and 1998, participated in the Osaka contemporary art exhibit Modern de Hirano with his works Command Octopus, Hirano Fantasy, and Tokyo-Osaka Mixture. |