ACF Asian Cinema Fund

Asian Network of Documentary(AND) Fund

2011

2011 Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund

LIST 311
Category Busan Bank Fund
Project 311
Director MORI Tatsuya
Country Japan
Director's Profile Mori Tatsuya was born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1956. As a student at Rikkyo University, he joined the movie club Rikkyo SPP and collaborated, as an actor, with now-renowned filmmakers such as Kurosawa Kiyoshi. After a short acting career, he joined a TV production company in 1989 and made more than 40 TV programs. In 1996 he went freelance when his project about the Aum Shinrikyo cult was cancelled ? the film was subsequently absorbed into the theatrical documentary film [A] (1998). In 2001, the sequel [A2] won Special Prize and Citizens Prize in competition at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. He is a prolific writer with more than 20 books published, about media, war, the death penalty, and non-fiction reportages about forgotten historical incidents in post-war Japan.
Synopsis
Two weeks after March 11, four men in a RV vehicle were driving around the disaster-stricken areas: Yasuoka Takaharu, Watai Takeharu, Matsubayashi Youju, and Mori Tatsuya. The four were all documentary filmmakers. Normally, it is rare to see four documentary directors working together. It was an unusual situation brought about by an unprecedented earthquake of magnitude 9. For Mori, it had been a while since he took a camera in hand. In spite of his experienced career, he found his conscience bothering him, particularly with regards the filming of the suffering.
Director's Note
I want to depict the scale of this immense disaster. During the filming of this project, I continued to struggle with my conscience in directing the camera lenses onto the survivors, the bereaved, and their sorrow and despair -- the meaning of the act of filming. Of course there is no answer to this question, but I am resolved that I must continue to think deeply upon it.
Festivals
2011 Busan International Film Festival - Wide Angle_Documentary Showcase
2012 Salaya International Documentary Film Festival
Still Cut
LIST