Japanese

Cinema with Us 2019

Co-organized by the Ministry of Culture, Republic of China,
Taiwan Culture Central, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan

• October 11–15   [Venue] Yamagata Museum of Art 2

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Living with Disasters: Documentary Film Practices Over the Years in Taiwan and Japan

Many films have been made and widely shown that document the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, now eight years behind us. Even today, there are filmmakers based in the disaster areas who have continued the work of recording the lives of the people there. Taiwan, much like Japan, has been the site of numerous natural disasters over the course of its history. In just the last 20 years it has suffered large-scale disasters that include the 921 Earthquake in 1999, and the 88 Flood caused by Typhoon Morakot, in 2009. These have claimed countless lives and displaced many more. Numerous Taiwanese filmmakers such as those in the FullShot Documentary Workshop have entered disaster-struck towns and mountainous areas to document the hardships of those affected, and the slow progress towards recovery.

This year’s program takes another look at the work of those who have spent extensive time documenting life in these kinds of areas in Japan and Taiwan, two East Asian nations that both not only frequently face natural disasters, but also live under the threat of nuclear catastrophe. How are we to approach films that show us the emotional state of those lives bearing the brunt of the ongoing dramatic changes in the relationship between humans and the natural world, and what should be our way of thinking in terms of communicating these stories to future generations? This program, a collaboration between organizers in Japan and Taiwan, will re-examine how important it is to document disaster on film, and what it means in the cultural sphere.

Somewhere over the Namasia  Dir: Tsai Yi-feng / 2012 / 57 min   • Oct. 11 19:00

Kanakanavu Await  Dir: Mayaw Biho / 2010 / 95 min   • Oct. 12 18:30 Oct. 13 18:50 M1 (Rescheduled)

HIRONO  Dir: Shimada Ryuichi / 2019 / 130 min   • Oct. 13 10:30
Over The Sky  Dir: Shiiki Toko / 2018 / 42 min   • Oct. 13 14:10
Twelve Stories About the Flood  Dir: Hsu Hui-ju / 2011 / 60 min   • Oct. 13 16:15
Out of Place  Dir: Hsu Hui-ju / 2012 / 78 min   • Oct. 13 18:00

Fight for the Future  Dir: Konishi Haruko / 2018 / 52 min   • Oct. 14 10:30
Formosa Dream, Disrupted  Dir: Huang Shu-mei / 2007 / 145 min   • Oct. 14 13:05
A Letter to Future Children  Dir: Huang Shu-mei / 2015 / 96 min   • Oct. 14 16:20
Coming Home  Dir: Huang Shu-mei / 2018 / 99 min   • Oct. 14 18:45

Return to Iitate Village  Dir: Fukuhara Yusuke / 2019 / 55 min   • Oct. 15 10:30
Double Layered Town / Making a Song to Replace Our Positions  Dir: Komori Haruka + Seo Natsumi / 2019 / 81 min   • Oct. 15 12:45