7.6 /10 1 Votes
Produced by Gregor Streiber Director Kyoko Miyake Producer Gregor Streiber | 7.6/10 IMDb Initial release 8 March 2013 Narrated by Kyoko Miyake | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Directed by Kyoko Miyake
(三宅響子（みやけ きょうこ）) Screenplay by Kyoko Miyake and Friedemann Hottenbacher Music by L. Jack Ketch and Shigeru Umebayashi Cinematography Natsuumi Kozo and Shai Levy Distributed by Women Make Movies (United States), Inselfilm Productions (Germany), NHK (Japan) Screenplay Kyoko Miyake, Friedemann Hottenbacher Music director Shigeru Umebayashi, Jack Ketch Similar Pray for Japan, The Tsunami and the C, Pandora's Promise, Dark Circle, The Third Wave | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Surviving the tsunami my atomic aunt opening
Surviving the Tsunami - My Atomic Aunt is a 2013 documentary film written, directed, and co-produced by Kyoko Miyake remembers the Fukushima nuclear disaster that occurred on March 11, 2011 by focusing on how the disaster has affected her home town of Namie, Fukushima, Japan. The film develops into a personal reflection on how the Fukushima disaster has affected not only the world, but Miyake herself and the family she once knew.
Contents
- Surviving the tsunami my atomic aunt opening
- Director
- Synopsis
- Production
- Awards festivals and screenings
- References
Director
After obtaining her degree in English History from the University of Tokyo, Kyoko Miyake moved to England to study English Witchcraft at Oxford University as a Swire Centenary Scholar. While on sabbatical from her doctoral program at Oxford, Miyake began to create historically themed independent documentary films. Her inspiration for her first international feature-length documentary, Surviving the Tsunami, came from her familial connection to the Japanese city of Namie, which had to be completely evacuated after the meltdown of the Fukushima Number One nuclear plant, and her anger at the way the disaster was being portrayed by the larger, mainstream media outlets. Kyoko has directed award winning documentaries including Hackney Lullabies, which have been screened in Berlin, Germany, London, England and Sydney, Australia. Kyoko Miyake currently resides in England.
Synopsis
Surviving the Tsunami brings together social, environmental, and personal perspectives of the national catastrophe of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. In the documentary, Kyoko Miyake travels back to her hometown in Namie, Fukushima, to revisit her old life and assess the trauma still lingering from the disaster. She revisits Namie, her mother's hometown and meets the people who depended on the success of the nuclear plant for their livelihood. The film also follows Bunsei Watanabe and Kyoko Miyake's Aunt Kuniko, two people who hope for the rejuvenation of Namie, despite the disaster that has occurred. Despite having lost family, friends, and jobs due to the meltdown and subsequent fear of the contamination zone, these two individuals are determined to rebuild their towns and neighborhoods and bring back the sense of community they once had. The film follows the residents of Namie, with emphasis on the experiences of Aunt Kuniko, as they come to terms with the reality of living in or near the "radiation zone" left in the wake the plant's nuclear meltdown. Surviving the Tsunami offers a different perspective on Japanese culture, national identity, human adaption, and global nuclear energy and proliferation.
Production
The documentary was originally titled Beyond the Wave, yet the completed documentary was released as My Atomic Aunt. The film aired on seven television networks around the world in 2013, including the BBC, and NHK, Japan's National public broadcasting organization.
Jon Lynes, of Time Out London, describes Surviving the Tsunami, as "Haunting and moving ... as hard-hitting as it is simply presented... a timely reminder that the impact of the Fukushima disaster is still being felt....".