Event

NUCLEAR NATION

On March 11, 2011 a huge tsunami triggered by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, crippling the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, releasing radiation, and turning the residents of Futaba into "nuclear refugees." The devastation experienced by the town -- dead livestock left to rot, crops abandoned, homes and businesses destroyed -- was infinitely worse than anything reported by the newspapers. A year later, many refugees are still unable to return to contaminated homes. The irony of this disaster occurring in a nation that experienced two nuclear bombs is not lost on the victims who poignantly question their responsibility for striking a Faustian bargain with nuclear power. Nuclear Nation examines a tragedy in miniature, but also suggests that it could one day be replicated on a grand scale perhaps in your own backyard.
Japan, 2012, 145 min., Color and B&W, Rated NR | Director: Atsushi Funahashi | Berlin Film Festival 2012 | VIENNALE 2012