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Yesterday is Now 歴史の傷跡 –大戦

English + Japanese with English subtitles, 96 minutes Documentary DVD, Canada, 2002
Film website with full details: yesterdayisnow.ca

Produced and directed by Celine Rumalean (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Soundtrack by Evan Parker, David Toop, Sarah Peebles, Nilan Perera, and Jin Hi Kim

“Yesterday is Now” reveals the divisions in today’s Japanese society as it struggles with the question of how to consider the war and Japan’s responsibility for the crimes it committed during its occupation of neighbouring Asian countries between 1895-1945. These crimes include sexual slavery, slave labour, the use of humans in biological warfare experiments, and the massacres of civilians. Frank and probing interviews with a diverse collection of individuals – families of the Japanese war dead, former soldier, A-bomb survivor, teacher, labour unionist, journalist, artists, students, politicians and right wing nationalists – together with archival footage and images from Japan’s modern cityscapes make up a riveting chronicle of the country’s dealings with the unfinished business of its wartime past. Despite historic differences, this exploration of the past resonates eerily with the present: this is a revealing look at how a country can be mobilized into war, how atrocities can be committed in the name of a “just war,” and how consequences of war live on in peacetime.

The film features an otherworldly soundtrack that includes soundscapes by U.K.’s legendary free-jazz saxophonist Evan Parker; experimental musician and author David Toop; Korean/American composer-komungo performer Jin Hi Kim; Canadian musician/composer/improvising guitarist Nilan Perera; and electroacoustic innovator Sarah Peebles. Toronto-based Peebles is an installation artist, composer and music improvisor who incorporates distinct approaches to performing shō, or Japanese mouth organ, into her works.

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR - Celine Rumalean
yesterdayisnow.thewar@gmail.com

See PDF files for a description of Yesterday is Now: English