Cinema with Us 2015
Supported by Association for Corporate Support of the Arts GB Fund, The Shonai Bank Furusato Creation Fund,
and The Kamei Foundation for the Promotion of Social Education
3.11 As Turning Point:
Connecting Here and There, Past and Present
In the past few years, wherever there has been a major disaster or accident, people on the scene have been able to upload images to the internet from their mobile phones faster than the mass media. One of the consequences of what happened on March 11, 2011 was our awakening to this obvious possibility. Television became a medium that remains always behind, with film even further behind that.
Only once the filmmaker has faced their subject, dealt with their recorded images, and then edited these together, does a film reach people’s eyes. Because of this delay, films unfold at a distance from our hurried present, perhaps enabling us to come to grips with 3.11 and what followed. I believe such a remove is necessary at this time. The incident was unprecedented; knee-jerk reactions will never bring us recovery or growth.
The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami literally rocked the balance of Japanese society and those of us who take part in it. And it is also true that it has led to the creation of countless more films than any previous disaster. What is it we are seeking to think, to describe, to communicate through film?