Nipponia Nippon – Fukushima Rhapsody
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2019
Japan
113 mins
Japanese
NYC Premiere
Feature Film Competition
| Ryo Saitani | |
| Hiroya Akaike | |
| Daisuke Ryu (Kokuhei Kusunoki), Minori Terada (Murai), Miri De Couto (Haruka), Yuna Keitoku (Umi) |
Naraho town in Fukushima Prefecture is on the front-line of the government-funded nuclear power plant decommissioning work. Kokuhei Kusunoki is transferred from Aizu Wakamatsu City to Naraho Town to take over the Disaster PR Division. Murai takes Kokuhei around Fukushima including areas washed away by the tsunami. They examine the still incomplete railway lines, the unfinished decontamination area and villages in the danger zone, where deadly cesium continues to pile up. One day Kokuhei is told to organize a party to celebrate the professor who has been appointed as deputy director of the Atomic Energy Research Institute.
About the Director
Born in 1952, Ryo Saitani started working for director Kihachi Okamoto while still at university. In 1982 Saitani established Fusion Production and published “COMICBOX,” specializing manga and animation. In 1998 Saitani opened the Laputa Building to screen masterpieces of Japanese movies.
Reviews
A Folkloric Absurd Eastern Rhapsody: “Nipponia Nippon Fukushima Rhapsody” – Nilüfer Yenidoğan Özmekik, Winter Film Awards
Film Review: Nipponia Nippon – Fukushima Rhapsody (2019) by Ryo Saitani – ANDREW THAYNE, Asian Movie Pulse
Rebuilding a Country While Managing a Flea Circus – Nipponia Nippon – Fukushima Rhapsody – William J. Hammon, I Actually Paid to See This
Spicy nuclear caricatures, questions ahead of laughter – Shoichiro Yoshida, Nishi Nippon
Banquet drama of eight years of anger – NNN.co
Saying “Fukushima” cheerfully – Yuhei Okino, Asahi
Interviews
Photos (Click on Photo to View)
Trailer
