Directed by Kensaku Kakimoto. 2012. 28 minutes. 
In Japanese with English Subtitles.

Reviewed by Cindi Textor. 

In the year since the 3.11 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the disaster has elicited an enormous range of human responses: from the worldwide outpouring of sympathy and charitable giving to political protests centered on resistance to nuclear energy, from perseverance in the face of hardship to stubbornness in the face of change, and of course, overwhelming sorrow and mourning. Light Up Nippon, a short documentary film sponsored by the Japan Foundation, tells the story of one of those rare moments of celebration-solemn, yet jubilant-to take place in the months following the catastrophe.  

"Light Up Nippon" refers to a fireworks display that lit up the sky along 300 kilometers of the Tōhoku coastline on the evening of August 11, 2011, the five month anniversary of the disaster. The film traces the project from its inception just days after the tsunami to its completion several months later, in parallel with the Tōhoku region's progress from utter devastation to the beginnings of rebuilding and a return to some semblance of stability.  

 

In English, Portuguese and Chinese, with English subtitles.

Reviewed by Howard Y. F. Choy. 

When Hillary Clinton criticized China for its "new colonialism in Africa" last summer, was she indicating the U.S. government's hitherto ignorance of China's "foreign assistance" that exported rice and railways, along with communism, to "liberate" the continent early in Mao's era (1949-1976)? Or was she simply expressing her frustration over the failings of the African Growth and Opportunity Act in trading American goods for Africa oil? Competing with American post-Cold War hegemony, China's expanding footprint in Africa is both a twenty-first century continuation of the European-model of colonialism as well as a modern revival of the imperial Chinese tributary system-be it the Han, Tang or Qing empire-as exemplified in its present-day international hunt for energy and natural resources.  

 

The U.S. Secretary of State's castigation of China was made during a pan-African television interview in Zambia, a landlocked republic in southern Africa and the story setting of When China Met Africa.

Reviewed by Angela Williams.

 

What are everyday Afghans doing to improve their lives and rebuild their country for future generations?  The Fruit of Our Labor: Afghan Perspectives in Film is one answer to this question.  The film is comprised of ten short documentaries created by Afghan filmmakers during a documentary training session provided by Community Supported Film (CSF), a Massachusetts-based not-for-profit organization.  While the films provide little background and explanation for the situations portrayed, they do give succinct depictions of how people are striving to survive amidst the challenges of a poorly functioning government and infrastructure, underemployment and a history of ethnic strife.

 

The strength of each film is how it serves as a window onto the lives of ordinary Afghan men and women in their pursuit to improve the country and their own livelihoods.

The very mention of Beijing conjures images of its imperial past - landmarks like the Forbidden City and the Ming tombs.  Soon that may change.  Film director Wang Jiuliang's cinematic reportage draws our attention to the fact that Beijing's  landfills now far outnumber its landmarks. From 2008-10, Wang counted close to 500 dumps and landfills surrounding Beijing, almost  like a moat, and piled high like a tumulus.  Some of them are only  10 miles from the Forbidden City,  Bejing's heart and center.

 

Using a combination of Google Earth, photography, video, and thought-provoking commentary, Wang Jiuliang juxtaposes Beijing's rapid urbanization, often touted as an economic miracle, with the negative environmental and social consequences of the city's expansion.  He begins with footage of newlyweds taking photos by a creek and cuddling sheep, an idyllic scene if it were not for the toxic water in the creek and the fact that the sheep are feeding on nearby garbage instead of grazing in the mountains. Clearly, the couple has no idea how their own lifestyle is contributing to what can only be considered a looming environmental disaster.

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