The New York Asian Film Festival kicks off its sprawling, 18-day schedule on Friday, June 20th. The fest plays host to a diverse range of films, from an Indonesian noir-thriller to a film by the son of legendary director Shohei Imamura that features a 50-person orgy. But one of the most talked about pictures in the lineup is Li Ying’s Yasukuni, a portrait of Tokyo’s Yasukuni war shrine (pictured) — the final resting place of many of Japan’s war dead, including 1,068 convicted war criminals, some of whom participated in the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.
About the film
Li Ying’s Yasukuni examines the meaning of the shrine, traces the clashes between Japanese nationalists and protesters that occur before its gates, and follows one of the shrine’s last remaining swordsmiths. Ultimately, the film asks, “What is the difference between the tool, its use and its maker? Can you make a gun that’s used in a murder and not have blood on your hands? And can you make a sword, as beautiful as it is as an object, that’s used to commit war crimes and not be stained by the sin?”
Controversy
The film has sparked significant controversy in Japan because the filmmaker, Li Ying, who is Chinese, received funding for the documentary from a Japanese government agency. Ying’s critics claim he should not have used taxpayer money to produce a politicized film. One cinema in Japan refuses to show it.
Earlier this year, Diet member Ineda Tomomi of Japan’s ruling LDP party held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan to address the controversy. Listen to an English translation of the event [h/t Global Voices Online].
Watch the trailer
Yasukuni screens Saturday, July 5 at 4pm at Japan Society. More info.
See the entire New York Asian Film Festival schedule.
Views from both sides of East Asia’s historical conflict
Two years ago, FRONTLINE/WORLD traveled to China and Japan to investigate how the rivalry between Asia’s biggest powers plays out among the two nations’ modern societies in “Japan and China: The Unforgotten War.” Watch the episode…
