 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
PRESS
COMMENTS ON Witness To Hiroshima
| "I watched Witness to Hiroshima, and it was as moving and thoughtful a work on the bombing of Hiroshima as I have ever encountered.... I showed the DVD today in class, and the students were very positive about the work…. In the absence of an actual bomb survivor, I think the DVD gently, powerfully imparts the nobility of survivors. I will definitely use it in the future as well.” | |
| James Fujii Associate Professor of Modern Japanese Literature University of California, Irvine |
|
| “Witness to Hiroshima is one of those small-story films that reveals a much bigger picture… The link the film draws between Tsuchiya's experiences following the bombing and his later horseshoe crab preservation work is a startling connection. Teachers will find lots of use for this fine, short film.” | |
| Rethinking Schools Magazine Volume 23 No. 3 - Spring 2009 |
|
| "Born six years before my country dropped the Atom Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I grew up in the shadow of this horrendous tragedy. My post-World War Two generation believed nuclear holocaust to be inevitable. That we hadn't nuked Germany or Italy --Japan's Axis partners in fascism -- told us plenty about our country's toxic color codes. I can't take in Keiji Tsuchiya's personal, on-the-ground, turn-by-turn testament without feeling my stomach and throat constrict. Like Mr. Tsuchiya's faithful translator, I, too, break into tears as his story makes its point: that the horseshoe crab and all living things share with us the same water and air. For a world that knows little or nothing about this monstrous 20th century event and its stained legacy, Kathy Sloane's 15-minute documentary is a must-see." | |
| Al Young California Poet Laureate (2005-2008) |
|
| "What a wonderful project. I cry every time I watch it. I would love to make it available on our website for both teachers and laypersons alike." | |
| Glenn Gauvry, President Ecological Research and Development Group (ERDG) Dover, Delaware |
|
| "I watched the film and was totally moved. When the narrator's voice cracked in the film, I also had tears in my eyes. Mr. Tsuchiya's watercolor pictures are indeed very powerful. I am going to ask our movie club to make sure this film will be shown again next semester. Kudos to your outstanding job!" | |
| Dr. Phoenix Liu Program Director Language House Immersion Program School of Languages,Literatures,and Cultures University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland |
|
| "I think that the whole world has to see this film and not just know the facts, but feel the cries of the Japanese. This film made me question how I am living my life." | |
| Amy Cha, 10th grader Athenian School Danville, California |
|
"We are the horseshoe crabs and we are the birds I've just watched the film on the Hibakusha. Very well done. It put me in mind in some ways of the story about the US journalist Robert Scheer who witnessed a blast in the South Pacific during the open air nuke testing in the late 50s and who was told, apologetically by the military, that he was going to see a tac, a small tactical nuclear bomb, not a big city buster. He was feeling cheated, as it was only a 10K, as small a nuke as we have, not a 1 or 2MT. He was in the bunker and was handed a helmet with the goggles for watching it. He looked out across the bay toward ground zero some miles away. It was the South Pacific, and there were lots of birds, including albatrosses, flying high and low and skimming across the water, and the countdown--5-4-3-2-1 and the explosion. The immense flash of light and then all he could see were the birds, all pinwheeling and bursting into flame. He stared and thought, "We are those birds." The bomb he witnessed was the same size as the one used to destroy Hiroshima and now it was just a tac, three orders of magnitude smaller than the large ones. Plus we have thousands, not just a few. So until we get rid of them all, this little film will be quite relevant. We are the horseshoe crabs and we are the birds... Thank you so much,Yours for a nonviolent future" |
|
| Tom H. Hastings Director, PeaceVoice Program, Oregon Peace Institute |
|
| "Just viewed your documentary and wanted you to know how moved I was by it. Hearing the first-hand eye-witness account of that horrific and shameful part of our history had a powerful impact on me as I'm sure it did on all those who viewed it. Even after hearing Keiji's account of what he saw and experienced, it was still difficult to imagine what the nightmare aftermath of that bombing was really like, and I don't think I have the intestinal fortitude to try. Thank you for creating this important, eye-opening and consciousness-raising document. It should be required viewing for all politicians in Washington." | |
| Thomas Meyer Thomas Meyer Fine Arts |
|
| "I did watch your documentary and, first of all, I do think that it is really a poem. In fact, I watched it once with the sound off and found it even more powerful. What you captured so well through the visual for me was how much a healer this man is and that, in his attending to the dead and dying after the bomb blast, he was attending to the healing of their spirits. I found his parallel healing of the horseshoe crab all the more poignant. This is not to say the historical and political issues have been diluted but just that it is so clear that what we see as being the concrete issues always carry a more subtle and powerful meaning. Well done and I certainly hope you do another one!" | |
| Anita Carse | |
| "I was at the demonstration to abolish nuclear weapons in NYC a few weeks ago. There a young woman spoke to me about your film and when I asked how to order a copy, she gave one to me.
I wept as I watched this gentle man tell of his experience through his watercolors. I weep for our world , so blind . I weep that the powers that be do not know it cannot risk one nuclear bomb going off again. Thank you dear Kathy and I dream every classroom in every school in the US show this film along with footage of the real thing. Peace and light" |
|
| Lillian Rosengarten Cold Spring, NY |
|
| Read comments from students | |
