HBO is airing a new documentary on Monday, July 16th at 10:00-10:40 p.m. ET/PT about the 2011 Earthquake/Tsunami in Japan called "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" in which survivors learn to rebuild their lives at the time the Cherry Blossom season begins. I'm looking forward to seeing this and want to thank Raimy for forwarding this to me.
See the trailer...
PRESS RELEASE:
For Immediate Release July
3, 2012
OSCAR®
NOMINEE THE TSUNAMI AND THE
CHERRY BLOSSOM
CAPTURES A NATION’S
RESILIENCE IN THE WAKE OF TRAGEDY
WHEN IT DEBUTS JULY 16,
EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO
On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan
Earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, leaving 15,372 people confirmed dead and 7,762 reported
still missing. In
the wake of the largest
earthquake in the country’s history, some people drew the courage to revive and rebuild from
cherry-blossom season, which began within weeks of the tragedy.
Oscar®-nominated this year for Best
Documentary Short Subject, THE TSUNAMI
AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM shows how nature can be a rejuvenating – as well
as a destructive – force when it debuts MONDAY,
JULY 16 (10:00-10:40 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Directed by Lucy
Walker (the Oscar®-nominated documentary feature “Waste Land”), this poignant film debuts immediately after the debut of
the SXSW Film Festival hit “Birders: The Central Park Effect,” which offers a
different look at how nature touches people.
Other HBO playdates: July 18 (12:15 p.m.), 24 (4:15 p.m.)
and 28 (6:00 a.m., 3:15 p.m.)
HBO2 playdate: July 18 (9:00 p.m.)
HBO
Documentary Films presents another weekly series this summer, debuting
provocative new specials every Monday through July 30. Other July films
include: “Hard Times: Lost on Long Island” (July 9); “Birders: The Central Park
Effect” (July 16); “Vito” (July 23); and “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now”
(July 30).
THE
TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM is
a stunning visual poem about the ephemeral nature of life, and the healing
power of Japan's most beloved flower. The nation is transfixed by cherry
blossom season, which runs from late March through April, with many people tracking
the blossoms’ short lifecycle and attending “hanami,” or viewing parties, with
family and friends.
Walker
had originally planned to visit Japan to make a film about cherry-blossom
season, but on March 11, 2011, while she was making final preparations for her
trip, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck, triggering tsunami waves of up to 133 feet on Japan’s
northeastern coast. Initially
unsure whether to continue, she flew to Tokyo with a small film crew and headed
north to the Tohuku region, where she captured both the utter devastation and stoic
resolve of survivors, many of whom had lost family members and friends.
THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM opens with harrowing home-video
footage, shot from a hill, of a huge wave destroying the town below. A month
later, a young woman stands on the same hill, remembering how she “watch[ed]
people being consumed by the tsunami.” An older man tells how he tried and
failed to save his oldest friend, proclaiming, “I don’t want a house. I don’t
want clothes. I don’t want anything. I just want his life back.”
Others
tell their stories of survival, escaping in their slippers and seeing whole
houses rush toward them on a wave of black water. One couple living at a
community center returns to the ruins of their house, hoping to rebuild. Their
town is within the 30km exclusion zone around the Fukushima power plant, and
many people wear cotton masks as protection from radiation.
Amidst
the despair in the days following the tsunami comes a glimmer of hope in
“sakura” (cherry blossom), a harbinger of spring in Japan and a national symbol
of renewal. One man explains how the cherry blossom reflects the Japanese
character, saying, “Each flower is tiny, and you can’t see one individually. But
it’s beautiful when you see lots of flowers together. Japanese people see
themselves that way too.”
Out
of respect for the victims, many viewing parties were cancelled this year, but
people still visit the blossoms and take pictures. A man who lost his house
shows where new plant shoots have sprouted on the beach, commenting that if plants
can hang in there, humans can too. A young woman looking at the cleanup and
construction adds, “Every year that the trees bloom, they’ll give us the
courage to keep going.”
In addition
to its Oscar® nomination, THE TSUNAMI AND THE
CHERRY BLOSSOM received the Jury Prize in Short
Filmmaking at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at
the Toronto International Film Festival, the Hamptons International Film
Festival and BFI London.
THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM was directed by Lucy Walker; executive
producers, Tim Case and Charles V. Salice; producers, Kira Carstensen and Lucy
Walker; director of photography, Aaron Phillips; editor, Aki Mizutani; music by
Moby.
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