Documentary screenings in Tokyo

[mark schilling]

Here's a notice I wrote for "The Japan Times" that might be of interest to
list members living in Tokyo.

Mark Schilling

Screenings of Documentaries on Koreans in Japan

The situation of ethnic Koreans in Japan, the so-called zainichi Kankokujin,
has inspired not only controversy -- Korean demands for local voting rights
being among the latest -- but films by such leading directors as Nagisa
Oshima, Yoshimitsu Morita and Yoichi Sai. Last year "Go," Isao Yukisada?s
energetic film about a young Korean battling for respect and love in a
Japanese high school, swept domestic film prizes and was named as Japan?s
candidate for a Foreign Film Oscar.

On Saturday, March 9, there will screenings of two documentaries about
Koreans in Japan at Tokyo Women?s Plaza Hall in Omotesando, starting from
1:30 pm. The first, "Nihon de Ikiru To Iu Koto" (Living In Japan), is Izumi
Inokawa?s look at the effort of a zainichi Kankokujin father to impart
Korean culture, history and values to his at times indifferent or hostile
offspring, who have assimilated into Japanese society far more than he would
like.

In the second film, "Watarigawa," Korean director Kim Duk Chul follows the
attempts of Shikoku high school students to uncover the buried truth about
wartime Korean laborers at a nearby dam, including the harsh conditions that
caused several deaths. They also invite a Korean girl, the winner of an NHK
speech contest, to their community and end up going to Seoul to meet their
Korean contemporaries. The winner of several prizes in Japan and screened at
film festivals in Pusan and San Francisco, "Watarigawa" offers a refreshing
way forward from the often-acrimonious relations between Japan and Korea,
two societies at once so alike and so different.

The screenings (the one of "Watarigawa" with English subtitles), will be
followed by a discussion with the directors. For more information call
03-3353-6866, fax 03-3353-6971, e-mail manu at p3.org or visit the Web site at
www.realtokyo.co.jp/japanese/0309/