Turning a lens on the past<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Sexual relationships just aren't the same anymore for
\nJapanese documentary filmmaker Tomoko Kana.<\/p>\n
Ever since she started filming Mardiyem last year, sex has
\nstopped being fun and games for Kana, 29.<\/p>\n
Mardiyem is Kana's first long documentary film, a 92-minute
\nwork which tells the story of Mardiyem, a former Indonesian
\ncomfort woman. It will be screened on Tuesday at the Jakarta
\nInternational Film Festival (JIFFest).<\/p>\n
Being involved with several women who were forced into sexual
\nslavery and raped over 15 times a day had an effect on the
\nfilmmaker.<\/p>\n
\"It was like it was me who was being raped. It made me feel
\nafraid to make love to my boyfriend. He's my lover and I like him
\nvery much, but sometimes I had the feeling he was in the Japanese
\narmy. I felt so frustrated,\" she told The Jakarta Post recently.<\/p>\n
\"I felt dizzy and everything .... My boyfriend didn't
\nunderstand at first. But when I explained it to him, he
\nunderstood,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Making a documentary film about women who served as sex
\nslaves, or \"jugun ianfu\", for the Japanese army in the Second
\nWorld War has been Kana's obsession since she was 13 years old
\nand first learned about the issue at school.<\/p>\n
\"It was so shocking for me. I was so surprised that my
\ngrandfather's generation could do such a horrible thing to
\nwomen,\" said the Tokyo resident.<\/p>\n
After graduating from Japan Women's University in Tokyo, where
\nshe majored in Asian history with a focus on World War II, she
\nbegan working at Japanese television station NHK.<\/p>\n
Kana approached the station about making a documentary film on
\nthe comfort women, but her vision proved difficult to realize.<\/p>\n
\"It's because the Japanese government wanted to deny the
\nfacts. So many people from the older generation wanted to hide
\nthe truth,\" said Kana, who funded the film herself.<\/p>\n
After working as a director at NHK for more than eight years,
\nKana quit her job to pursue her obsession.<\/p>\n
\"I just wanted to record why those men did such a thing.
\nWithin five to 10 years, those comfort women will die. I'm a
\nJapanese woman, I think I have some responsibility to record the
\ntestimony of comfort women for younger generations,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Her contacts led her to Indonesia, even though former Japanese
\nmilitary comfort women are also found in other countries, such as
\nKorea.<\/p>\n
\"Of the other Asian countries, I like Indonesia. It just feels
\ndifferent. I love the place, the food, the atmosphere, the
\npeople ... ,\" Kana asserted.<\/p>\n
Here she met Mardiyem, now 73 years old, a former comfort
\nwoman who lives in Yogyakarta. From September last year to early
\nthis year, Kana documented her life.<\/p>\n
\"I chose Mardiyem because she is the most vocal of the former
\ncomfort women (who are demanding an apology and compensation from
\nthe Japanese government).<\/p>\n
\"She has a strong personality and is very noble. She always
\nsits straight, full of pride and full of passion. That was why I
\nchose her as the main character,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Kana followed Mardiyem as far as Banjarmasin, South
\nKalimantan, to trace Mardiyem's past.<\/p>\n
She also followed Mardiyem and her fellow former comfort women
\nto Tokyo last December, where they testified before the Women's
\nInternational War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual
\nSlavery.<\/p>\n
Making the film, Kana said, was exhausting because she shot it
\ncontinuously from morning to night.<\/p>\n
But hardest of all were the emotional aspects.<\/p>\n
\"I had to ask them difficult questions, like how many times
\nthey were raped a day. But I had to, otherwise I would not have
\nbeen able to show other people how bad it was,\" Kana said.<\/p>\n
The stories of the comfort women were grim, which left Kana
\ndepressed.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the ibu-ibu (older women) live in poverty. Most of
\nthem couldn't marry because they can't have children.<\/p>\n
\"And when it comes to sex ... I like sex, but I only do it
\nwith my lover. But for them, they don't have sexual relationships
\nwith their lovers. I mean, sex is a wonderful experience but for
\nthem it's always been violence and violence ... ,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Mardiyem was completed last July and screened at Japan's
\nYamagata Documentary Film Festival in early October, where it
\nreceived a good response from younger Japanese.<\/p>\n
However, she said she was worried that she would return to
\nJapan and find that some people opposed her film.<\/p>\n
\"Recently, there was a Korean film about Japanese comfort
\nwomen, and some people from a right-wing party came to the
\ntheater and tried to slash the screen.<\/p>\n
\"I'm very worried, but I'm not the one who was raped 20 to 30
\ntimes a day, so it's OK,\" she said.<\/p>\n
As for the problem with her boyfriend, it's settled now.<\/p>\n
\"I told him, 'If you have to go to war, please don't rape
\nwomen'. And he said he wouldn't,\" Kana said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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