Grief of March 11 disaster laid bare in new documentary

it is wrong to make money off of someone else's suffering.

There is nothing wrong with making a documentary on the March 11 disaster. A documentary can be a very powerful means to bring the horror of that day to audiences around the world.

Documentary filmmaking is not exactly a cash-printing machine. These are four gentlemen who spent many months of their own time and spent lots money on equipment, supplies, and services. Shouldn't they be compensated for their sacrifices? They didn't have to go to Tohoku; they could have just stayed home and waited for NHK to make the official documentary like everyone else. Sure, as Mori acknowledges, there was an inherent tension between the artists' individual gratification and the reality that they attempted to interpret for the audience, but that has happened since time immemorial. Hemingway said writers are always selling people out. Was Hemingway wrong to cover the Spanish Civil War and then write For Whom the Bell Tolls? I don't think so. I applaud what the filmmakers have done here. As long as they have not behaved crassly, I support their efforts. How else are the rest of us to learn about the world if an intrepid few never bother to document it for us?

@Jared Noaman my thoughts exactly. This documentary should be exempted from CASH award, a tiny medal is ok.

@jared

How about directors of funeral homes? Doctors? Physical therapists? Real Estate salespersons (preying on the homeless)? Farmers (exploiting the hungry)? Granted the above (with perhaps the exception of the first) are helping the suffereing in some way, but they are still making money off of others suffering, no?

To know I am going to HAVE to watch this actually stresses me out. The sorrow, despair and shock all ready to come onto us like an avalanche again. I still think of that father who everyday got up in search of his children, leaving a birthday cake on the foundations of what had been his family's home. Just heart breaking. Documentaries are important, powerful tools to tell stories.

@jared

Nearly every company in Japan is milking the earthquake for all they can get. Seen the Gambare Nippon banners everywhere, tacky and just a cheap way of trying to look like they are caring.

I see your point, but I think documents do more good than harm. Let's judge the doco after we've seen it.

I am sick of the ganbare banners

Jared - not sure but it seems you haven't experienced much of what envelops us every day.

Money off suffering is what drives the world media, in fact it drives the world. Think War, Think Poverty, Think Despair and that's what we bathe in every day.

To dump on some folks who with considerable thought and resignation decided to show the tragedy as it is, tells me more about you than them.

I hope the documentary is an enormous success in the sense it pries open the eyes that are wide shut.

The purpose of a documentary is to witness, investigate, interview with those willing to participate and to follow through, with an unbiased truth.Documentaries are an important educational tool by which we come to understand all aspects of the chosen subject, When I say follow through this one would be incomplete if it fails to bring into the equasion the nuclear devestation in Fukushima, the aftermath of the evacuees who may never be able to safely return to their homes and the possible future health concerns of the population..An unbiased documentary would also investigate the siting of reactors and the roles played by both the Japanese goverment and TEPCO. If the producers have recorded all of this then I would congratulate them, if not, its a thmbs down for me

Well said, Christina O'Neill. A documentary also permits those who did not experience the three-level disaster to enter the experience and share it. I watched hundreds of hours of film and reportage coming out of Tohoku in the aftermath.

I continue to look for the stories. It is the only way that I can bear witness to the events as they unfolded in Japan. Even though I live across the Pacific and cannot experience the disaster, the footage and the stories allow me to grieve and learn and contribute to the alleviation of the massive suffering. I am grateful for the stories, though I can also imagine that I might be one of the angry people, tired of having cameras in my face.

Though I appreciate the feelings of the reporter who took 5 photos in the aftermath of Hiroshima and put his camera away, the sobering reminder of the true horror is necessary. It is important that the bystander to a disaster is not allowed to look away. However, in any record of human suffering, it's an incredibly delicate balance between keeping a record and respecting the victims. How can we avoid victimizing them repeatedly or exploiting them in the aftermath?

And where exactly are all those Red Cross millions now? How are they getting to the people affected? I hope that's another facet the documentary addresses. Doesn't the silence on that subject feel alarming? (Sorry, I realize that's a new topic and not exactly pertinent to the focus of this thread, nor can one documentary address every facet needing examination, but.)

@Christina O'Neill "...interview with those willing to participate..." Willing being the key word. In any case, I think it's too soon.

I for one am not unhappy with the "ganbare nihon" slogan plastered everywhere. What I am fed up with is the J-gov and TEPCO's complete lack of the same. Just dithering, self-protection, avoidance, and dodging of responsibility. Complete lack of ganbare while the populace does their best to deal with The Situation.

When I say follow through this one would be incomplete if it fails to bring into the equasion the nuclear devestation in Fukushima, the aftermath of the evacuees who may never be able to safely return to their homes and the possible future health concerns of the population.

I don' t think that's in the scope of what they are trying to do with this film. There's just too much to be told to put it all in one documentary, so I'm sure we'll be seeing a host of films over the next few years dealing with all sorts of aspects of this disaster.

I for one am not unhappy with the "ganbare nihon" slogan plastered everywhere.

You do realize that these 'gambare' slogans are nothing short of mass government brainwashing. Suppressing the peoples feelings so they can continue to get away with being moronic and incompetent.

Why do I say this? Because since birth the Japanese have been taught not to speak out, and this fear of being alienated suppresses everyone's real feelings and frustrations.

And that is the key to all of the problems Japan is and will continue to face. The whole 'gambare' mindset is no different to mass brainwashing by a communist society. Whoever came up with the 'gambare' concept was an evil genius.

Until people learn that standing up and expression their views and opinions, nothing and I repeat nothing will ever change. Why else are morons in government, education, welfare and sports able to get away with pathetic, cruel and ridiculous acts? Because demonstrating restraint by the masses (i.e. gambatte) has somehow become an indirect symbol of how good a Japanese citizen you are.

By the way, the above is my observation of everyday life in Japan, it is not meant as an insult in anyway

This sounds ok but the JAPANESE ARE TOO POLITE?? This is BS! The Japanese should stand up to this stupid government and DEMAND, yes DEMAND to really know what is happening over in FUKUSHIMA at the Dai Ichi nuclear power plant etc..too much of a cover up IMHO.