PRESS CONFERENCE
Adrian Francis, director of "Paper City: Memories of the Tokyo firebombing"
11:00-12:00 Friday, February 10, 2023
(The speech and Q & A will be in English.)
The 'Other' Bombing That Time Forgot
The most destructive air raid in history began just after midnight on March 10, 1945, when 279 B-29s flew in low over Tokyo, dropping clusters of napalm bomblets engineered to ignite fast-burning fires. By the time they left, the U.S. warplanes had laid waste to a quarter of the city and claimed over 100,000 lives. The first of more than 100 raids on Tokyo that was designed to destroy a residential area, it reduced wood-and-paper housing to rubble instantly, searing horrific memories into the minds of the survivors.
In his award-winning "Paper City: Memories of the Tokyo Firebombing," Tokyo-based Australian filmmaker Adrian Francis patiently documents three survivors who have spent their lives trying to preserve their experiences of this unprecedented tragedy for future generations. They have actively campaigned for a public memorial, a museum, some token compensation for civilians who lost everything.
But the Japanese government has refused to formally acknowledge their appeals. Even after seven decades, they are still being ignored. "Paper City" should help rectify this disgrace. Francis weaves together harrowing testimonies, rarely-seen archival footage and modern-day advocacy, as the film explores trauma, remembrance and the state’s role as gatekeepers of history.
Says the director, who devoted seven years to making the film, "Berlin has its Holocaust Memorial and Hiroshima has the Atomic Bomb Dome — places where people come from around the world to learn, mourn and pay their respects. But in Tokyo, where tens of thousands lost their lives in a single night, hardly a trace remains, and rarely does anyone even talk about it." With "Paper City," Francis gives a lasting voice to the survivors of the Tokyo air raids.
Adrian Francis has been a resident of Tokyo for over 15 years. His short films and documentaries have screened at major international film festivals around the world. "Paper City," which marks his feature debut, won two awards at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival last year and the Audience Award at the Tokyo Documentary Film Festival in December. It opens at Image Forum on February 25.
How to attend:
Please register at front@fccj.or.jp with your name, the name of your media outlet, and FCCJ membership number. Due to space restrictions attendance will be limited. Doors open 15 minutes before the event. Please sign in, giving your name and contact details at the reception. We may require wearing masks under specific circumstances, for example, there is a crowded gathering or if a guest speaker requests masks out of health concerns.
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Professional Activities Committee