Kyoko Gasha's 3/11: In the Moment

Last Friday, 11/9, I attended a viewing of the documentary called 3/11: In the Moment (ここに生きる), which was produced by Reuters reporter Kyoko Gasha. I give it 5 stars. It was a very moving documentary that followed the lives of many different women and at least one man after the disaster. Before the movie was shown, the director herself came up and said a few words. She invited us to have a conversation in our hearts with each of the "characters" as we heard their stories and saw their lives. This made a big impact on me and changed the way I thought about each situation in the documentary -- although I already get caught up in the world of a movie, I felt for each person as a neighbor. Although Gasha interviewed them all, you never hear her voiceover or questions - it is simply their story, as they told it. The version we watched was actually newer than the original - there were some followups she conducted earlier this year, and she plans to keep in touch with the people in the documentary later on. I hope that she can get funding, because I'm deeply interested to hear what happens in their lives.

There were so many situations. I'll just give a few of them. If you want to see for yourself, skip to the end, but I don't give too many details.
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Two elderly sisters(?) lived in a new house, barely scraping by, with their dog as a constant companion. Their original house they lived in was swept away with all of their family keepsakes. Women their age are finding it hard to get jobs, so they are having a rough time of it.

Another woman that particularly touched me works in an emergency shelter, serving by doing exercise classes with the elderly. Although she is serving them, she herself is a victim and is trying to figure out how to live life when Fukushima is not a good place to live anymore. Many of the exercises they do involve therapeutic songs that talk about moving on into the future and forgetting the past. I can't imagine the pain that they are feeling.

An Englishwoman who married into a Japanese family was also showcased. Although she was already fully part of society with her husband, children, and in-laws, after the disaster, she felt more a part of the community because they had a shared experience. She had a different focus with her English teaching after the disaster, because she wanted to distract the children and help them feel happy for at least a little bit.

Gasha also interviewed a family that experienced the Kobe Earthquake in 1995 in order to show what life is like for survivors of natural disasters many years down the road - something like that forever alters your outlook on life. Because of the earthquake, the daughter of the family decided to become a nurse help elderly people instead of helping with her family business.
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I could go on and describe more situations, but I'll stop there. After watching the documentary, I wanted to get on a plane right then and there and "do something", whatever that might be. It is going to take a long time for people to recover. I wonder if life will ever be completely the same for many in the Tohoku region. It was a very moving documentary, so if it comes to your city, I hope that you get the chance to see it.