Fukushima, Mon Amour (Grüße aus Fukushima)

A Poignant Tale of Survival and Rebirth

Venue: Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall, 1F Parliament
March 29 (Wed), 2017 7:00 p.m.- 9:15 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30)
Official website: goo.gl/Zxh97U
Theater website: www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html
Tariff:  Free. Open to the public.
Advance tickets: No RSVP needed.
Talk event: 6:00 pm director and actors

Title: フクシマ・モナムール (Fukushima Mon Amour)
Director: Doris Dörrie Duration: 104 mins

In commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the Fukushima triple disaster, Temple University Japan is presenting the first public screening in Japan of Doris Dörrie’s award-winning film, the first narrative feature shot in the nuclear evacuation zone.

Dörrie’s longtime collaborator in Japan, Karl Neubert, was the 1st assistant director on the film, and will introduce the screening, as well as appearing with soundman Giles Khan and other crew at a Q&A session afterward.

Filmed primarily in Namie Village, just 10 km from the crippled power plant, Fukushima, Mon Amour is the story of a young German woman, Marie (Rosalie Thomass), who has just experienced heartbreak at home, and travels to Fukushima to join a charity circus group that performs for the elderly survivors who have been forced to live in temporary housing for several years following the disaster. The wreckage Marie finds in the area — both physical and spiritual — does little to lift her own mood, making it nearly impossible to distract the survivors from their grief. Just as she is on the point of leaving, she meets elderly geisha Satomi (the great Kaori Momoi), who is stubbornly refusing to leave the no man’s zone, where she insists on rebuilding her home against daunting odds. Satomi has her own emotional struggles to overcome and is disgusted by the German woman’s cultural insensitivities, yet begrudgingly sets about trying the bridge the gap between them. The two women form tentative bonds and reach a tender détente, until the ghosts of Satomi’s past threaten to consume them both…

Gorgeously shot in black-and-white, Dörrie’s poignant new film is brilliantly acted by Momoi, the acclaimed actress best known offshore for Ghost in the Shell, Sukiyaki Western Django and Memoirs of a Geisha. Relative newcomer Rosalie Thomass won the Bavarian Film Award for Best Actress for her role as Marie.

Fukushima, Mon Amour premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, followed by many screenings at festivals around the globe, including Europe, India (Mumbai), Hong Kong, and the US. Among its awards are the C.I.C.A.E. International Confederation of Art Cinema Award and Heiner-Carow-Award for Best Independent Film.

Date:       Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Time:       7:00 p.m.- 9:15 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30)

 

7:00 p.m. - 7:10 p.m.  (Introduction)
7:10 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.  (Screening)
9:00 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.  (Q&A in English)

Talk show: 1^st AD Karl Neubert, sound man Giles Khan plus others

Azabu Hall, Temple University, Japan Campus