Nuclear Nation, Atsushi Funahashi (Japan, 2012)

Presented with the Center for Japanese Studies as part of the symposium Reframing 3.11. 

In Conversation/Atsushi Funahashi and David Slater

David Slater is an associate professor of cultural anthropology at Sophia University, Tokyo, who has published works focusing on social media, information, and political activism following Japan's 3.11 crisis.
On March 11, 2011, a tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake hit Japan’s coast, crippling the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The devastation exacted by the tsunami was compounded by radiation released by the failing reactors. The nearby town of Futaba was abandoned,leaving behind a wreckage of homes, contaminated crops, and expiring livestock. Within weeks, director Funahashi arrived to observe Futaba’s displaced community, now “nuclear refugees” from the exclusion zone. What he found were evacuation centers crowded with intrepid people yearning to return home, but caught in a limbo of governmental inaction and evasiveness. Join us for Funahashi‘s astute documentary, as well as updates about the disaster with no end.

• Photographed by Funahashi, Yutaka Yamazaki. (96 mins, In Japanese with English subtitles, Color, Blu-ray, From First Run Features)

We regret that the previously scheduled guest, Akira Mizuta Lippit, is no longer able to join us at this screening.