Update as of 9/20/19: This event is currently at full capacity. Please join our waitlist and we will notify guests if space becomes available.
Check-in @ 6:15pm
Doors Open @ 6:20pm
Discussion/ Q&A @ 8:30pm
Run-Time: 120min
Read: The New York Times profile on Miki Dezaki
ABOUT THE FILM: Miki Dezaki, debuts his feature length documentary on the comfort women issue titled “Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue.” Dezaki masterfully interweaves footage from demonstrations, man-on-the-street interviews, news and archival clips with in-depth interviews with the most prominent scholars and influencers from both sides of the debate, including Yoshiko Sakurai (journalist), Kent Gilbert (lawyer/celebrity), Mina Watanabe (secretary-general of the Women`s Active Museum), Koichi Nakano (political science professor) and Yoshiaki Yoshimi (historian). “Shusenjo” reveals surprising confessions and revelations that uncover the hidden intentions of both supporters and detractors while deconstructing the dominant narratives. The film dives deep into the most contentious dispute between Japan and Korea, and seeks answers to hotly debated questions, such as: Were the comfort women “sexual slaves” or prostitutes? Were they coercively recruited? Were there really 200,000 comfort women? And, does Japan have a legal responsibility to apologize?
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Miki Dezaki is a recent graduate of the Graduate Program in Global Studies at Sophia University in Tokyo. He worked for the Japan Exchange Teaching Program for five years in Yamanashi and Okinawa before becoming a Buddhist monk in Thailand for one year. He is also known as “Medamasensei” on Youtube, where he has made comedy videos and videos on social issues in Japan. His most notable video is “Racism in Japan,” which led to numerous online attacks by Japanese neo-nationalists who attempted to deny the existence of racism and discrimination against Zainichi Koreans (Koreans with permanent residency in Japan) and Burakumin (historical outcasts still discriminated today). “Shusenjo” is his directorial debut.
