Hibakusha (film)

Hibakusha
Directed byChoz Belen
Steve Nguyen
Written bySteve Nguyen
Ivan Tsang
Produced bySteve Nguyen
Dean Matsuda
Brian L. Tan
StarringKarin Anna Cheung
Connie Lim
Daisuke Suzuki
William Frederick Knight
Jane Lui
Production
company
Release date
  • September 28, 2012 (2012-09-28)
Running time
45 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Hibakusha is a 2012 American animated short film directed by Steve Nguyen and Choz Belen, and produced by Iconic Films, the Documentary Channel (USA), and Studio APA in Los Angeles, California, and New York City, New York.

The film centers around Kaz Suyeishi, a woman in her late fifties who begins to reminisce about her earlier years living in Hiroshima, Japan during the aftermath of the atomic bombing. Inspired by her story,[1][2] the filmmakers reached out to Mrs. Suyeishi in order to produce her biopic using computer animation and hand-drawn techniques.[3]

The official trailer was released on July 30, 2012.[4]

Since October 2012, the film has been screened at the Japanese American National Museum,[5] Vietnamese International Film Festival,[6] Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, Dragon Con in Atlanta,[7] University of Michigan,[8] UCLA, UC Irvine,[9] UC San Diego, San Diego State University, UC Davis, UC Riverside, DisOrient Film Festival, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, and California State University, Fullerton. Hibakusha received the Special Achievement Award and Best Animated Short in 2013 at the International Uranium Film Festival held in Rio de Janeiro.[10]

  1. ^ Gold, Matea (10 August 1998). "Echoes of Hiroshima". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ "HIBAKUSHA: Kaz Suyeishi Talks About Her Channel 4 Experience". YouTube.
  3. ^ Eriksson, Scott. "Steve Nguyen Interview: Hibakusha". Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  4. ^ "hibakusha trailer". AngryAsianMan.com. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  5. ^ Fukuda, Keiko. "Presenting HIBAKUSHA To The World: Animated film conveys the hibakusha experience". Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  6. ^ "'NORWEGIAN WOOD,' 'HIBAKUSHA' AT VIETNAMESE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL". Rafu Shimpo. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Dragon Con Independent Film Festival - Hibakusha". Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  8. ^ Nahata, Harsha. "Harsha Nahata: Activate the 'quiet' generation". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  9. ^ Pham, Phuc (20 November 2012). "Kaz Suyeishi Presents "Hibakusha"". New University. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  10. ^ "Hibakusha". uraniumfilmfestival.org. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2013.