Japanese documentary screenings––6 Dec. 2025

Schedule
12:30 Doors Open

13:00 'Blind Shiratori’s Eyes for Art'『目の見えない白鳥さん、アートを見にいく』 (107min) + Q&A with director Ario Kawauchi (online) & moderator Chizu Matsushita
Trailer---> https://youtu.be/isTz7CjA7RA
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This documentary film is about Mr. Kenji Shiratori, who has been active as a ‘blind connoisseur of art’ in Japan.

Kenji, who was born nearly blind, visited an art museum for the first time on a date with his girlfriend. That day, while listening to her words in front of a work of art, he began to think, ‘Maybe it is possible for a blind person to see art through words.’ He knocked on the doors of many art museums himself, and he eventually developed his own unique way of appreciating art through ‘free conversation’.
This documentary film follows the rich conversations spun between the ‘blind art appreciator’, his friends, museum workers and so on. He often travels around Japan's regions while visiting art museums. The camera continues to document his journey and his daily life, which is not visible.

Some questions are explored in the film, such as what is a disability? What is the power of art? Is there something we can see only because we cannot see it? What is the meaning of people with different backgrounds viewing art together? Can words bridge the gap between the visible and the invisible?
Even though the film does not provide any direct answers, watching this film could provide an opportunity to consider such questions.
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15:45 'Children’s Tears-Searching for Japanese Fathers'『子供たちの涙〜日本人の父を探し求めて〜 』(49min) + Q&A with director Yuki Sunada and moderator Chizu Matsushita
Trailer---> https://youtu.be/pptn1vtFltE
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‘Children’s Tears-Searching for Japanese Fathers’ unveils a hidden history which starts in the Dutch East Indies under Japanese occupation during WW2. The protagonists were born of Eurasian mothers and Japanese fathers as children of the enemy. They moved to the Netherlands with their mothers while their fathers went back to Japan after the war. The absence of their fathers becomes a missing piece in their lives, and the ensuing search stretches across continents. One of the protagonists, Nippy Noya, is the percussionist in a Netherlands-based rock band called Massada. In his career, he also recorded with artists such as John McLaughlin and toured with Billy Cobham and Chaka Khan. The film starts with his soulful drum playing in the ruins of the former Jewish transit camp, Westerbork. On his journey, he discovers the secret of his musical gift, just as the other protagonists each experience their own emotional rebirth.

The film was released on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war in Tokyo and Osaka. The film toured the theatres in Fukuoka, Hiroshima, and Kobe. The film won the 33rd Japanese Film Renaissance Award (Japan), International Movie Award (Indonesia), the Mercurius Prize for films that capture and express important elements in the spirit of Jungian psychology at Noir in Festival (Italy) and was officially selected by DOC Feed (The Netherlands).

Premise
Every autumn, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited a group of Japanese-Indo-Dutch (Japans Indische) people to Japan to give them an opportunity to see their fathers’ country, thereby helping them come to terms with their difficult experience. They are the children of Eurasian mothers and Japanese fathers stationed in colonial Indonesia during the Japanese occupation (1942-1945). During the war, Dutch women and children were sent to internment camps, but Eurasian women were allowed a life outside of camp even if they had Dutch passports. This meant they came into contact with Japanese soldiers/civilians in daily life resulting in many babies born out of wedlock. There are no official figures, but the number likely runs into the thousands. After the war, some babies were adopted or abandoned. This film focuses on the stories of the children that went back to the Netherlands with their mothers while their fathers returned to Japan. These children struggled with their identity and endured discrimination for many years. In the 1990s, with the help of a Japanese veteran, a group began searching for their fathers in earnest. The search still goes on.
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18:00 Doors close

Ticket Information
・Open seating
・If you have ordered a student ticket, please bring your student card.
・Please join us for the Q&A session with the director after each screening.
・Drinks and snacks are available for purchase after each film.
・Parking on city centre streets costs €50 per day (no hourly rate). Consider using public transport or parking at ParkBee or QPark nearby.

We hope you enjoy the screening(s)!

Sincerely,
Cinema 245