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Boston Globe
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
The Global Cinema Film Festival aims to bring the pains of the rest of the world to viewers
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Cinema saved me in a way that it transported me out of a hostile reality,' he said. 'Now what's funny is I'm bringing people into a hostile reality to show what is happening — not so they do not forget, but rather so they wake up.' Advertisement This year's lineup at the Advertisement The festival is showcasing 14 films from around the world. There are multiple North American premieres slated, including 'Tongo Saa,' or 'Rising Up At Night,' a Congolese film about the darkness surrounding the capital, Kinshasa, due to a lack of electricity; 'Faithful Unto Death,' a Latvian observational documentary centered around an elderly married couple forced to remain together out of economic necessity, and 'My Memory Is Full of Ghosts,' a snapshot of the destruction ravaging the Syrian city of Horns throughout the nation's civil war. The lineup will also feature films from countries new to the festival, including 'The Congress' (Indonesia), about the fight to unite Indigenous communities in the face of climate crisis, and opening-night film 'The Treasure Hunter' (Philippines), about a father and son who travel to the Southeast Asian archipelago in search of treasure buried by the Japanese Imperial Army. A documentary filmmaker himself, Jacob, 36, has produced films with similar themes as the films he screens yearly, exploring the broader ramifications of genocide ('In A Blind World') and the civil war in his home country ('Sierra Leone: A Culture of Silence'). When first conceiving of the festival, he sensed a hole in the film festival circuit for international documentaries. With the many challenges surrounding funding and presenting these projects in front of large audiences, he wanted to make sure the work got its proper due. 'It's hard to sell documentary films, it's hard to get distribution for documentary films,' he said. ' I'm proud to say that we're still continuing that mission, if not expanding our goal, to give documentary filmmaking the platform it deserves.' The annual event has survived turbulent periods before, and this year may prove to be another one to endure. Jacob said there's been a sense of unease in the international filmmaker community, pointing to Advertisement Recently, made the trip to Boston. As Executive Director Patrick Jerome told at the time, 'you have a group of people that are protesting, you have a group of people that are scared, and then you have another group of people that didn't even have the option to obtain a visa.' Although Jacob asserted there are a variety of other factors that can affect a filmmaker's decision to come to the U.S., he expressed some concern about the future of production and distribution. However, he is heartened by the drive of documentary filmmakers under duress, and puts that same faith in audiences. 'I think if anything, people are going to come out and be exposed to the truth,' he said. 'People are seeking out what lies beneath and going to the front lines through cinema.' As the state of global affairs gets more and more tumultuous, documentary film should continue to be a beacon for highlighting injustices, he said. 'These people are demanding to be seen,' he said. 'They're raising their hand or they're raising a torch and they're saying, let there be light here, please. We're bringing stories that spark conversation, and we spotlight films that make us care.' Advertisement Global Cinema Film Festival of Boston May 16-18, West Newton Cinema. 1296 Washington St, West Newton, MA,
Japan Times
03-05-2025
- General
- Japan Times
'War must never happen again': former Japanese soldier recalls battle of Imphal
The experience of surviving the battle of Imphal in northeastern India during World War II has never left Tetsuo Sato, a 105-year-old former Japanese soldier. "War must never happen again, absolutely not," Sato said in an interview ahead of the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, referring to the Imphal operation, known as one of the most reckless battles waged by the Imperial Japanese Army. The path along which the Japanese soldiers retreated was called "skeleton road" because so many troops had lost their lives to hunger and disease. Born in Niigata Prefecture, Sato joined the army in April 1940. During the mission at Imphal in India under British rule, Sato crossed the 200-meter-wide swirling Chindwin River in Burma, now Myanmar, in March 1944 to reach the northern strategic point of Kohima. Despite being needed as food rations for the mountain ranges ahead, unruly live cattle and goats had to be dumped from the small boat. While trying to capture Kohima, a shell fragment hit his left knee in battle. He had to undergo surgery without anesthesia. Many Japanese troops were killed at Kohima, and Sato keenly felt the difference in military power. "We couldn't damage the British tanks at all by firing light machine guns," he remembered. Born in Niigata Prefecture, Tetsuo Sato joined the Japanese Imperial Army in April 1940. | jiji In July 1944, the Japanese troops started retreating. To hide from surveillance planes, they escaped through plains and jungle at night. With no map or compass, they moved using only the stars and guesswork. They starved. "I dug out banana root with my sword, washed it, boiled it in a rice pot, and ate it," Sato recalled. "It wasn't good, but it was the only thing we could eat." The pursuing British tanks attacked groups of soldiers, so they had to escape separately. Still, "people get together in groups of two or three when they are frightened," Sato said. He remembers shouting at the others to split up, but they stuck together and were shot one after another. Men were not the only enemy. Vultures attacked soldiers weakened by wounds and malaria. "Vultures came to hit soldiers with their wings spread out wide. After a soldier fell, two or three would attack." Sato saw soldiers being eaten alive by the birds. In a couple of days, the body would be reduced to a skeleton. "Death isn't the only thing you can do. Be sure to come back alive and serve the country," one of his superiors had told him. Sato was only 21 at the time and could not imagine Japan's defeat, but during the harsh retreat he remembered the words and survived. Sato returned to Japan in 1947 after being taken prisoner in Burma. He later made a living in forestry. Viewing the defeat as shameful, Sato never spoke about his war experiences. A decade ago, however, he started to talk about them. "It was my fate to return alive, and talking about the war and delivering the memory of the mistakes are my duty," Sato said. While a little hard of hearing, his memories are still vivid. "I'm very happy now," Sato said, who now has five children, 13 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren, who all call him "grandpa." But Sato's smile disappears when he talks about the war. "War solves nothing, just people killing each other," he said. "Once it starts, no one can stop and weaker people suffer most."
Japan Times
24-03-2025
- General
- Japan Times
Battle of Okinawa survivor passes down memories of war
Rieko Tamaki, 90, a resident of Naha, still remembers the final moments of her then 14-year-old brother's life during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. "He died in agony, crying out, 'Give me water.' I couldn't give him any. I still regret it to this day," Tamaki said, her voice breaking with emotion. Tamaki, who was 10 years old when Okinawa became the site of a fierce ground battle with the U.S. during World War II, was telling her story to Hinata Kinjo, a 19-year-old university student in Tokyo, as part of a project to pass down the memories of the war to younger generations. Kinjo, who is originally from Tomigusuku, Okinawa Prefecture, accompanied Tamaki to war sites in the prefecture. Last year, Tamaki and Kinjo visited a park on a small hill in the town of Yaese. From there, they could see the area where Tamaki's brother was fatally struck by U.S. artillery shells. Looking down at the area now surrounded by elementary and junior high schools, Tamaki began recounting her experiences. In 1944, Tamaki was a fourth grader at a local elementary school in Naha. After the devastating air raid on the city on Oct. 10 that year, she and her family evacuated to the village of Ginowan, where they began living in a rented house. In early 1945, her father received a draft notice and was sent to war as a military doctor. Around the end of March that year, the family decided to set out for the Shuri area in Naha, where they believed the field hospital the father may have been working at was located. 'If we must die, let's die together as a family. Let's go closer to father,' one of the family members said, according to Tamaki. On May 22, as the situation deteriorated, the 32nd unit of the Japanese Imperial Army, which had set up its underground headquarters at Shuri Castle, decided to retreat to the southern part of the Okinawa main island. Civilians who had already fled to the south were caught up in the battle. Tamaki's family also headed south under heavy shelling. However, every shelter they came across was already full, and they were repeatedly turned away. They eventually found refuge in a cave in the village of Kochinda, which is part of the present-day town of Yaese. Tamaki's aunt risked her life to search for food and returned with small potatoes, each about the size of a finger. That was all the family had to eat for the entire day. The cave was hot and humid, and the air was foul. One evening, seeking fresh air, the family stepped outside — only to be met with the explosion of an artillery shell. "I couldn't drop to the ground as we had practiced. My body froze, and I just covered my face with my hands,' Tamaki told Kinjo. Tamaki's brother was severely wounded, his chest soaked in blood. He was taken to a field hospital, where his left arm was amputated. His body was wrapped in bandages, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. He didn't survive. Tamaki has shared her story over a thousand times in lectures, yet she said, "No matter how many times I talk about it, I never get used to it." For Kinjo, it's hard to imagine the scene from 80 years ago at what is now a peaceful residential area. 'It seems so distant, such a tragedy having happened here,' Kinjo said. After losing her brother near the cave in Kochinda, Tamaki and her family left the cave the next day and wandered the battlefield in southern Okinawa. What she saw on the ground was horrifying — blackened and bloated corpses scattered under the blazing sun, and wounded people pulling maggots from their rotting wounds. Tamaki remembers thinking that she didn't want to die like that, suffering in agony. 'Every day, I was praying that if I had to die, I would at least die quickly, without pain." Eventually, the family found a small hut in the village of Makabe, which is part of the present-day city of Itoman. At one point in the hut, Tamaki was sitting on her grandfather's lap, huddled together with the remaining family members. As they waited for the heavy shelling that had intensified before dawn to subside, she heard her grandfather suddenly begin groaning in pain. He had been hit by shrapnel that ripped through his body from his back to his left side, and blood was pouring out of him. Tamaki and the other children from the family were moved behind a stone wall outside the hut as the grandfather didn't want the children to see him. Then, she heard his "death screams." Later, her aunt told her that the grandfather had taken his own life so he wouldn't be a burden to the family. "Even though his own son was a doctor, he couldn't receive medical treatment and had to choose to kill himself,' Tamaki said of her grandfather. 'On the battlefield, human effort and resilience meant nothing — it was a merciless world.' Believing that her grandfather's remains might be among those collected after the war, Tamaki visits the Mange no To monument in the Makabe area almost every year to pay her respects. The monument was set up to enshrine the remains of fallen soldiers, officials and civilians collected by the villagers of Makabe. Kinjo, who visited the monument with Tamaki and prayed alongside her, said, "It must be so hard that she remembers the sound of her grandfather's last moments so vividly, even after 80 years." Imagining the horror, Kinjo added, "A battlefield with no end in sight and a desperate wish for a death without pain. ... It must have been terrifying for her not knowing when it would be over." Tamaki ultimately survived by wandering the battlefield alone until she surrendered to U.S. forces. Out of her family of 10, eight — including her brother, father, and grandparents — died. Only Tamaki and her aunt survived. After listening to Tamaki's story, Kinjo said, 'Hearing it directly from her, I could vividly picture the horrors in my mind." But she also admitted, "At the same time, because I live in a peaceful time, it all feels unreal, and I feel guilty for that." Tamaki gently reassured Kinjo, saying, "That's completely natural." Tamaki said she didn't want to speak about or even recall her experiences for nearly 50 years after the war. But now, she continues to share her story, especially with children, to convey the cruelty of war and ensure that the younger generation will never suffer the way she did. "What would you like our generation to do?" Kinjo asked Tamaki. "It makes me happy that young people like you are trying to share these stories and make the world a better place,' Tamaki said. 'I want your generation to protect (the war-renouncing) Article 9 of the Constitution so that young people will not lose their lives because of the decisions made by the state," she said firmly, looking directly into Kinjo's eyes. This section features topics and issues from Okinawa covered by The Okinawa Times, a major newspaper in the prefecture. The original article was published March 4.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
State House remembers the Battle of Iwo Jima on 80th anniversary
BOSTON (WWLP) – Marines and their families came together at the State House on Wednesday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the historic Battle of Iwo Jima. This World War II battle lasted 36 days and resulted in the United States Marines and Navy capturing the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army. 7,000 American soldiers were killed and 19,000 more were injured, making it one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Hearing in Karen Read case abruptly suspended over new information Secretary of State Bill Galvin spoke at the ceremony about the importance of military service and honoring the immense sacrifices American soldiers made on Iwo Jima. 'They were there, and all of us as Americans must be there in the generations to come to protect the freedom and the liberty that we enjoy and that they fought for,' Galvin said. For Howie Bernstein, son of Iwo Jima veteran Sammy Bernstein, keeping the memory of his father's sacrifices alive is his life's mission. Bernstein said his father never came to terms with the horrors he saw on that Japanese island. 'As long as I'm alive, people will never forget what happened on Iwo Jima. And I won't allow that,' Bernstein said. Joe Cappuccio was 19 years old when he fought on Iwo Jima and was the only surviving veteran to attend the ceremony. He had some advice for younger veterans on living their post-war lives to the fullest. 'I wish you guys could all do what I did with my life,' Cappuccio said. 'And believe me, enjoy it.' This victory laid the groundwork for the successful Battle of Okinawa, the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland, and the eventual World War II Allied victory. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
