Not held at Japan Society – Yesterday Is Now

Celine Rumalean, dir. 96 min.
English, Japanese with English subtitles.

This documentary film explores the divisions in Japanese society about the legacy of Japan’s twentieth-century wars and occupation of neighboring Asian countries. Through frank and probing interviews, it raises issues around Japan’s motivations and its responsibility for war crimes that include sexual slavery, slave labour, the use of humans in biological-warfare experiments and civilian massacres.

The documentary’s diverse slate of subjects includes family members of the Japanese war dead, right-wing nationalists, politicians, students and artists, as well as a teacher, a labor unionist, a journalist, a former soldier and an A-bomb survivor. Yesterday Is Now combines their thoughts and revelations with archival footage and contemporary images to create a riveting insight into the unfinished business of Japan’s wartime past.

Yesterday Is Now also has screened at Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montreal, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, Tofino Film Festival, Global Visions Film Festival and Vermont International Film Festival.

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, Village East Cinemas, 181 2nd Avenue (at 12th Street), NYC.

Tickets: $10. Visit http://www.nyfilmvideo.com/ and click on TicketWeb to purchase, or call TicketWeb at (866) 468-7619.

Information: E-mail [email protected]