The Film "Nuclear Nation" Featuring Mayor Idogawa of Futaba-machi Screened at Berlin Film Festival

Mainichi Daily, quoting Kyodo News (2/13/2012):

BERLIN (Kyodo) -- A documentary film featuring residents forced to evacuate their town, home to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, was screened Sunday at the Berlin International Film Festival.

"I hope nobody in the world will have such an experience like ours again," Katsutaka Idogawa, mayor of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, said in a video message shown after the screening of the tentatively titled "Nuclear Nation" by director Atsushi Funahashi.

"We had attracted the nuclear power plant to promote our town. But I changed my mind because of the accident. While a final disposal site for nuclear waste is not set, it is quite dangerous that many nuclear power plants are built in the world," the mayor said.

The documentary depicts residents taking shelter at a former school building in Saitama Prefecture and scenes of Futaba town, which was evacuated due to a nuclear crisis following the March 2011 quake and tsunami.

The film director said after the screening, "I hope many people in the world will look at the current situation of people from Futaba. I will continue keeping a record until they find a permanent dwelling place."

Musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who composed piano music used in the documentary, also attended the screening.

Sakamoto said he plans to produce an album under the theme of Fukushima this summer and stage a performance with fellow musicians.

For more on Mayor Idogawa of Futaba-machi, see my previous post.

The film maker, Atsushi Funahashi, says he started shooting in late March when people were still focused on the aftermath of March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Despite the 4 explosive events in Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, I do remember that back then many people in Japan were still talking about fulfilling their duty to go out and spend money to help people in the disaster-affected area and prevent the collapse of the economy. Good old, ignorant days when the nuclear accident was a minor nuisance.

On second thoughts, it is still a minor nuisance for the majority.

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