Event

2008-10-02 Behind Forgotten Eyes

During World War II, women of many different nationalities were forced to serve the Japanese army as sex slaves. For nearly half a century afterwards, these comfort women lived in silence, ashamed to tell their stories. However, they have recently begun to stand up and tell the world what happened to them. Behind Forgotten Eyes is filmmaker Anthony Gilmores emotionally and politically charged, award winning documentary about these women and the circumstances surrounding the atrocities committed against them.

Behind Forgotten Eyes shines a bright light on an issue that remained in the dark for several decades. Interviews with historians and surviving comfort women tell the story of how young girls were forced into servitude for the Japanese army, detailing the painful and frightening events surrounding their captivity. Additionally, shockingly candid interviews of former Japanese soldiers, who admittedly took advantage of comfort women, offer a unique perspective.

While the film serves as a thorough primer on comfort women and the hardships they faced during the war, it also branches out to the present day and the politics that permeate this issue, culminating in the comfort womens march in Washington, D.C. in 2007. At once informative and incendiary, Behind Forgotten Eyes is likely to burn an impression never to be forgotten again.

Narrated by Yunjin Kim from the hit television series Lost.