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Japan (1/2)
Japan and the Japanese, their history, society and culture, including stories about the experiences of Japanese people in dealing with social, political and wartime challenges, and the experiences of non-Japanese people in dealing with Japanese society in both peace-time and war.
ANGELS OF WAR
1982 (PG) 54 min
RE-MASTERED FROM ORIGINAL FILM NEGATIVES! In January 1942, Papua New Guinea became the battle ground for nearly 2 million foreign soldiers. This film documents the experiences of Papua New Guinea's indigenous population during this campaign. more
AYA
1990 (PG) 95 min
Aya arrives in Australia with her husband, an Australian soldier who was with the occupation forces in Japan. Aya forms a close bond with Mac, a close friend of Frank's, whose wartime experiences left him with a deep regard for Japanese culture. But Frank wants Aya to forget her Japanese past. Suffering cultural shock and... more
BUTOH: Piercing the Mask
1991 (PG) 49 min
This documentary pierces the mystery and mystique of a dance movement adored by the West and largely ignored by the Japanese. It uses archival and modern footage of leading Butoh performers and interviews Butoh specialists to throw light on the essential Butoh themes of darkness, violence and eroticism to get to the core... more
EFFACEMENT
1980 (G) 14 min
NOW DIGITALLY REMASTERED. EFFACEMENT shows a Japanese Noh maskmaker, Taniguchi Akiko, at work on her masks in her Tokyo studio. She carves the mask, paints it and moves it in the pace of an actor's movements on the traditional Noh stage. more
EMILY IN JAPAN - The Making of An Exhibition
2009 (PG) 82 min
Behind the scenes of the blockbuster exhibition of paintings by the Indigenous artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye which toured Japan attracting record crowds. more
FIFTY YEARS OF SILENCE
1994 (M) 57 min
50 YEARS OF SILENCE tells the story of Jan Ruff-O'Herne and her experience of enforced prostitution at the hands of the Japanese military during World War II. As the first European woman to go public on this issue Jan faced the difficult decision to reveal her secret to her family, her friends and her parish. more
FLOWERS AND TROOPS (Hana to Heitai)
2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 106 min
Inspired by the documentaries of the great Imamura Shohei, under whom the filmmaker studied, this film explores the lives of Japanese soldiers who chose not to return to Japan when the war finished, but who stayed behind in south-east Asia to build new lives for themselves. more
FUKUSHIMA - Memories of the Lost Landscape (Soma Kanka Daiichibu Ubawareta Tochino Kioku)
2011 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 109 min
In the wake of the devastating tsunami and the Fukushima disaster, a 20km exclusion zone was created around the afflicted power plant. This award-winning film looks at the effect of the disaster on the lives of the evacuees. more
GREEN TEA AND CHERRY RIPE
1989 (G) 56 min
NOW DIGITALLY REMASTERED. A fascinating portrait of Japanese women who came to Australia as war brides, and their survival in an alien land. more
HATOMA FILMS, THE
1983 (G) 119 min
NOW DIGITALLY REMASTERED - A series of four films by Australian filmmaker Solrun Hoaas, about the tiny depopulated island of Hatoma, in Okinawa, Southern Japan. more
HORSES OF FUKUSHIMA (Matsuri no Uma)
2013 (PG) 74 min
A powerful and heart-breaking film of continuing relevance as new disclosures continue to emerge from the Fukushima disaster. After the tsunami, the nuclear meltdown, and many months of government inaction, the absurdity of human civilisation is reflected in their traumatised eyes of horses trapped for many weeks in a stud-farm... more
JAPARTA
2023 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 55 min
The story of a Japanese scholar, Minoru Hokari, who, before his death in 2004 at the age of 32, achieved work which today commands an ever-widening audience. It is a story of cross-cultural understanding, how Gurindji Elders in the Northern Territory tasked Minoru to relay stories from their culture to a wider world. A... more
KIDNAPPED!
2006 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 52 min
The extraordinary story of a group of Japanese citizens who were abducted by North Korean spies in the 1970s and 1980s and the subsequent struggle of their families to have their loved ones returned. more
PRIESTESS/THE STOREKEEPER, THE
1983 (G) 30 min
Available only in the collection of four films made by Solrun Hoaas on Hatoma Island: THE HATOMA FILMS. more
SACRED VANDALS
1983 (G) 55 min
Available only in the collection of four films made by Solrun Hoaas on Hatoma Island: THE HATOMA FILMS. more
SENSO DAUGHTERS
1990 (PG) 55 min
During World War II, 140,000 Japanese troops died in Papua New Guinea. Considered the 'Forgotten War,' neither the war nor its veterans received public recognition in Japan. Another unacknowledged tragedy of that campaign was the army's mistreatment of New Guinean women and 'comfort girls'. Over 90,000 'comfort girls' were... more
SYDNEY AT WAR
2005 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 52 min
At midnight on Sun May 31, 1942, three Japanese midget submarines broke through Sydney Harbour's defences and launched a surprise attack on an ill-prepared city. During that night of confusion and violence, 21 Australian and 6 Japanese service personnel lost their lives. Sydney At War recounts the events of that fateful... more
THERE'S NOTHING THAT DOESN'T TAKE TIME
1981 (G) 7 min
A mini film from Hatoma showing a 76-year-old woman weaving a basket for the fishing. During the task, which takes from morning till late afternoon, she talks about herself and her life. Available only in the collection of four films made by Solrun Hoaas on Hatoma Island: THE HATOMA FILMS. more
TOTEM & ORE
2019 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 98 min
In Australia, British atomic bomb testing ran from 1953 to 1963 at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia. Indigenous communities had to live with the impact of these tests – testing that infected many with radioactive fallout. more
WAITING FOR WATER
1981 (G) 27 min
Available only in the collection of four films made by Solrun Hoaas on Hatoma Island: THE HATOMA FILMS. more