BY CYNDI GREENING, PARK CITY, (USA) — While at the Sundance Producers Conference in August, I attended an early screening of Steven Okazaki’s WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN. Produced by Sheila Nevins and Sara Bernstein, the film is a moving documentary about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While there are numerous documentaries about that historical event, this is the first to bring an eye-witness account to the screen. Okazaki found survivors of the bombing and has them share their stories of that day. While researching through archival images and footage, Okazaki found film records of several of the survivors. By simply sharing their personal recollections, the survivors make the audience feel the horror and futility of war. The film was a tad difficult to watch, at times, yet the need to bear witness to the tragedy and triumph of these people kept me in the story. It’s an amazing piece of filmmaking.
In the Q&A following the film, Okazaki shared a story that surprised me. He had read there was an eight-year-old girl who had been very near to the bomb’s epicenter and had survived. Researchers in Hiroshima had located the woman but she was unwilling to share her story. No one in her social circle knew she was a survivor and she did not want to jeopardize her children’s future. The prejudice that survivors face (neither they nor their children are considered suitable marriage prospects) was a shock to me. And, as if the film and Okazaki’s commentary were not enough of a compelling anti-war statement, “Hiroshima Maiden” Shigeko Niimoto attended the screening at Salt Lake City and spoke to the audience. Nearing the age of 75, Shigeko spoke about the danger of proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world and expressed serious misgivings about the enormous U.S. nuclear arsenal.
WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN Post Screening Q&A
Podcast on Saturday, 27 January, 2007
Recorded Tuesday, 22 January 2007 Sundance Film Festival
Okazaki’s Farallon Films
Shigeko Speaks – Large – Direct download link
Shigeko Speaks – Small – Direct download link
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