Special Screening:ANPO- Art X War followed by a Q&A session with director Linda Hoaglund
Wednesday, September 29, 7 pm 20th floor

USA / Japan, 2010 89 minutes
Produced and directed by Linda Hoaglund
With appearances by: Tadanori Yokoo, Eikoh Hosoe, Hiroshi Nakamura, Makoto Aida, Miyako Ishiuchi, Kikuji Yamashita, Tatsuo Ikeda, Tokiko Kato, Mao Ishikawa, Shomei Tamotsu, Kazuyoshi Kushida

Film courtesy of Uplink

In Japanese and English with English subtitles

The Movie Committee is pleased to host this special screening of Anpo: Art X War, and to welcome filmmaker Linda Hoaglund back to the FCCJ for what is sure to be a spirited post-screening dialogue.

Hoaglund's debut as director, Anpo depicts resistance to U.S. military bases in Japan through a collage of paintings, photographs and films by Japan's foremost contemporary artists. The artwork vividly resurrects a forgotten period of Japan’s history, while highlighting the insidious effects of "Anpo," Japanese shorthand for the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty. The treaty permits the continued presence of 90 U.S. military bases in Japan, and 36,000 soldiers.

"Japan's relationship with America has always been complicated," muses contemporary artist Makoto Aida, "always vacillating between love and hate…" The film briefly surveys the contemporary impact of the 30 U.S. military bases in Okinawa, where the Futenma base issue was a recent flashpoint, before traveling back to 1960, when hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens from all walks of life came together in a democratic uprising against the treaty. They were eventually crushed by then Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, backed by the C.I.A. As Tim Weiner, author of Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA,comments in the film:"During the Cold War, the U.S. would work with any son of a bitch, as long as he was anti-Communist."

But the movement endured to resurface in protests against the Vietnam War. It also left an indelible mark on the creative output of the artists who participated, many of whom eventually rose to international prominence. Anpo tells these artists' stories through their paintings, photographs and films, most of which have been hidden from public view for over half a century intercut with their creators, as a representation of a still-militarized Japan reeling from the psychic wounds inflicted by American occupiers.

Producer-director Linda Hoaglund was born in Kyoto to American missionary parents and educated in rural Japan before studying at Yale University. She is a noted translator and expert on Japanese cinema, and has subtitled over 200 films, including celebrated works by Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Previously, she produced and wrote the documentary film Wings of Defeat (2007), which received the Erik Barnouw Award for Best Film about American History.

Please join us in welcoming Linda at our Meet the Filmmaker Cocktail Party, starting at 6 pm. Here's your chance to enjoy a glass of wine and light snacks while chatting with Linda and other film fans before the screening begins at 7:00 pm.

The cost of the cocktail party is ¥1,050 (incl. tax). Space is limited to the first thirty (30) people to sign up at the FCCJ Reception Desk (3211-3161). On September 29, please pick up your party ticket at the front desk from 6:00 pm, and join us in the Anteroom for the party. Cancellations received after noon on the day of the screening will be charged in full.

Please make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk (3211-3161) to allow for seating arrangements to allow for seating arrangements.

All movie screenings are private, noncommercial events restricted to FCCJ members and their guests.

Karen Severns, Edwin Karmiol, Movie Committee