3 Years Past

A Film dedicated to documenting individual life experiences of Japanese Youth.



http://kck.st/1haiI3a

A documentary film about a group of teenagers who have spent all of their high school years in Fukushima.

“3 Years Past,” A Social Documentary film by Kaz Senju

This is a film about ordinary high school students living though the extraordinary events in Fukushima.

このフィルムは高校時代を福島で過ごしてきた学生のインタビューに基づいて作成されるドキュメンタリーです。このフィルムはみなさんのご協力があって初めて映像化出来る作品です。

右上の緑の "Back This Project" をクリックしてご支援いただく内容を選ぶ事が出来ます。是非ご協力下さい。

日本語のプロモーションビデオはこちらへ：

The Film

"3 Years Past" is a documentary film about a group of teenagers who have spent all of their high school years in Fukushima. Their anticipated graduation from Junior High and entry into Senior High School was suddenly disrupted by an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident three years ago. Some of them were forced to evacuate from their homes, transferred to safer locations within Fukushima prefecture, or their entire family decided to move to another area within Japan. They are now entering an important juncture in their lives, graduating from High School and entering University. Some students see this as an opportunity to leave Fukushima for a fresh start elsewhere in Japan, while others have decided to stay near their families.

3年前、中学を卒業し高校への入学、期待や不安を胸にしていた学生達は突然日本を襲う巨大地震、大津波、原発事故により、普通と異なった高校生活を始めます 。震災からの避難、ボランティア活動、仮設への移転、そんな経験をした彼ら、彼女らは今、高校から大学へ、人生の大きな岐路に立とうとしています。3年と言う節目、 震災以前の中学の3年間、震災以来の3年間の高校生活、そして今後の3年。各3年に彼ら、彼女らはどんな思い、不安、期待があるのか。この作品はそんな思いを記録する機会です。

3 Years

Three Years in Japanese adolescence has a special meaning. Japanese junior high school (middle school) and senior high school are both three year programs. At the age of 15 and 18, Japanese children experience their very first life defining decisions, which school to enter, what career to aim for, and which university entry exam to take. Their decisions may separate these children from their friends, neighbors, and even their family.

The Interviews

Through a series of interviews the creator of the film will capture the experience of each student from their perspective. What was life like in their hometown in Fukushima before March 2011. What has their life been like the past 3 years, and how do they view their future in the next 3 years.

The Numbers

The 2011 quake resulted in 18,524 total deaths, 1605 in Fukushima alone. At one point, more than 400,000 people were evacuated within Japan as a result of the quake and tsunami. The accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and the radioactive contamination resulted in the further reduction of the population of Fukushima, an exodus of over 50,000 to outside of the prefecture. The evacuation zone extends in a 12 mile radius around the nuclear plant, its population relocated, and 88,000 people are still living in temporary housing in Fukushima. While there is an on going decontamination effort, news continues about additional radioactive leaks, contaminating water, as well as the ocean, and filling local resident's lives with uncertainty.

These numbers can help us to understand the magnitude of this experience, and help giving us a, perhaps false, feeling of control. Numbers can also mask the underlying meaning and grief of the loss suffered by the people involved. It is our intention to provide stories beyond statistics, paying attention to the past 3 years of their experience, showing the significance of the event through genuine voices, and giving a glimpse of the future through their eyes beyond the statistics and data.

Your participation

The producer hopes that by introducing the people of Fukushima to an audience beyond Japan that the magnitude of the events of March 2011 can be better appreciated by the world at large. Their experience may first appear extraordinary but it could happen to anyone. We all could face unanticipated change in our life. We are confident that we can capture the interviews but making this film into a real documentary is no small task. We need extended support to meet our production cost. Your participation and contribution enable us to extend this message to larger audience so that the experiences of these high school students from Fukushima will resonate with a broader audience.

Timeline

We have aligned our interview shooting with March 11th, the 3 year anniversary of the quake, and also the Spring break for schools in Japan. Based on that date, we expect the rest of the schedule to proceed as follows:

• Development: Nov 2013 - Jan 2014
• Fund Raising: Feb 2014
• Pre-production: Feb 2014
• Production, Shooting in Fukushima: March 2014
• Post-production: April - September 2014
• Completion: Fall 2014

This film is not just about a few individual students from Fukushima, but a sharing of experiences for all, so we can all appreciate how extraordinary our ordinarily lives truly are.

Thank you,

Kaz Senju Director

Risks and challengesLearn about accountability on Kickstarter

Needle in haystack: There is already existing media coverage of the tragedy of Fukushima and this small film may be lost in the noise. Our film is not an eye-catching, disaster movie, but presents ordinary reality though the eyes of young adults. It may not appeal to people who are seeking more sensational news. We intend to challenge this perception and the existing media coverage. Knowing real people is the best approach to resonate with their experience.

Production hurdle: The producer has traveled around Northern Japan for his photo projects after the quake and it is not an easy task to capture reality there. There are government regulations, limited access to certain areas, locals who hesitate to show their real emotions or to share their experiences. There are many production hurdles but we have spent the past three years talking to real people, slowly gaining their respect for our efforts.

Interview: This is not a series of scripted video clips, but real interviews, and we rely solely on how each interviewee shares their story. While we do our best to conduct our interviews, there is somewhat limited control by producer over the final product. We believe that real stories have more impact than guided responses and that is what this film is about.

Time: People in Fukushima face the fear of radiation every day. We focus on a turning point, high school students who are graduating this March, and starting a new chapter in their lives. Focusing on this one moment in their lives creates a tight schedule in pre-production, and filming. We emphasize the importance of this turning point rather than relying on on-going filming with no time restrictions. We truly believe this is the right approach to capture their experience at this juncture.