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小さき声のカノン– 選択する人々　Little Voices from Fukushima

This new release from Hitomi Kamanaka, the director of Rokkasho Rhapsody and Ashes to Honey, travels between Fukushima and post-Chernobyl disaster (1986) Belarus. Across national borders, mothers have chosen to stand tall and make their own path in the hope of a better future.

Opinions are divided in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster: whether it is once again safe, or whether it remains dangerous; whether recovery efforts are progressing, or whether they are stalling. But are the voices of those affected being heard–the voices of people struggling to rebuild their lives in the afflicted areas or in places where they took refuge.

This film relays the voices of mothers who are determined to safeguard the futures of their children, voices at risk of being drowned out by the waves of vested interests.

Although the Chernobyl nuclear disaster happened more than twenty five years before the Fukushima disaster,  it is not widely known that harmful effects are being felt to this day. What has happened to the children of Belarus, where people have been living under the fallout from Chernoblyl? What did the Belarusian mothers do to try to protect their children? Beset by worries, just like Japanese mothers, they have tried to find the best ways to protect their children, relaying on their own resources and instincts, and refusing to be silenced by the voices of power in society.

We are over the initial shock and bewilderment caused by the Fukushima disaster. Now we are at the next stage, of making our hopes for the future real. Their steps may be uncertain, but Japanese mothers have started to mobilize. They are finding ways to act out of their own wish to protect their children. The small voices of these mothers are beginning to reverberate around the world.